One of Those Days
by ILETUDRIVE
Summary: Hell has frozen over, the update is here. Drugging, kidnappings, fights, guns, parachutes or lack there of, arguments, snakes, waterfalls, and that's all in first 24 hours.
1. A displeased Greek God

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Disclaimer: I own nothing, I merely abuse.

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Distribution: Ask first I'll probably say yes.

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Cast: Focuses heavily on Jason, Elizabeth, Sonny, Francis, Nikolas, Stavros, several new characters, and a few more from Port Charles that I can't mention yet, or I'll give the story away.

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Author's Notes: This story was inspired by a challenge, well actually three challenges on another board. A kidnapping, the island, and a letter, I've combined them all in this fic. It's set when Elizabeth left Port Charles after taking the poison and it is a total new creation since then.

This fic is a lot of fun, with lots of action, and cliffhangers. Sort of Indiana Jones, with a few surprises. Let me know if you like it or not.

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One of Those Days

Part I

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~Island~

Elizabeth Webber blinked hard trying to clear the fogginess from her vision. She may be alive but that 'safe poison' that Nikolas had given her was wreaking havoc on her system. Her head had felt like it was going to fall off, ever since she had woken up a few hours ago, but in a perverse way, she had gotten used to that. This new side effect of the drug however, was very unnerving to her, because now she was seeing things.

She had to be seeing things, because less then 20 feet from where she sat on the beach was Jason Morgan. She'd heard a motorcycle approach and hadn't given it much thought. Well her heart had sped up and she had trouble breathing, but other then that she'd never even thought it could really be him.

Curious because the motorcycle was the first sign of life she'd seen in the area since she'd woken up, she had turned to look, and to her surprise a familiar sight greeted her. A familiar black leather jacket, well-worn jeans, and a blue T-shirt, confirmed his identity even before he pulled off the seldom-used helmet, exposing his short spiked hair. It was blonder then the last time she had seen him, so he must have been out in the sun. He was also tan and that showed off the blue of his eyes, so clearly when his eyes met hers, that she lost her breath.

She closed her eyes and began to count in her head. _One, two_, he couldn't be here. _Three, four_, he was as far away from her as he could get. _Five, six_, and she didn't blame him.

"Elizabeth."

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Seven, eight, that was so not his voice calling her name. Why would he say her name when he'd left without a word to her after that fateful night in the park?

"Elizabeth."

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Nine, ten, damn he smelled good though. Of course he always smelled good. It was always so hard to be around him, because his closeness made her think those thoughts that she wasn't supposed to be thinking about. Thoughts about him and her.

"Are you okay Elizabeth?"

"Just a minor breakdown," she muttered. Damn now she'd lost count. She felt him sit beside her, but kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to see the coldness in his eyes. A coldness that she knew had to be there when he looked at her.

"Will you look at me?"

The request was soft, of course his voice was always soft when he spoke to her. She frowned, or at least it had been until she'd started frustrating him every chance she got.

"Please."

She opened her eyes, and turned to look at him, and confirmed what she had always suspected, that he was one of those men that got better looking every time you saw them. "Happy?" She asked before closing her eyes and turning away.

Jason sighed heavily and shifted on the sand beside her. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't even know where here is." She couldn't help but feel stung by the coldness in his voice. "I just woke up there," she gestured behind her. "In that house."

"In that house?" Jason questioned. "Open your eyes and look."

She did as he asked and looked at the house he was pointing at. "Yes that's the one." She turned back to face the water, doing her best to ignore the proximity of the man beside her.

"Goddamnit Sonny." Jason got to his feet.

Elizabeth stared at him in surprise, he normally didn't talk like that when he was around her. She watched him pace and realized that he wasn't angry at her, but because of her. He was angry because she was here, where he obviously didn't want her to be. She felt chilled at the realization, but she couldn't blame him. How could she blame him for not wanting to see her? After all she had been a bitch to him the last several times she had seen him.

Jason rubbed at the back of his neck and stared at the crashing waves. The last person he had expected to find here was Elizabeth. Sonny had asked him to come here to help keep someone safe for a few weeks, and he'd agreed. He didn't know that person would be Elizabeth. If he had known he probably wouldn't have agreed, he shook his head at that thought. No he still would have come but he would have been prepared to see her.

Not much surprised him, in his line of work he had to be prepared for the unexpected. But when he had pulled off his helmet and saw her sitting on the beach watching him, he had been stunned. He smiled ruefully, he had been feeling edgy all day, and now he knew why. As crazy as it sounded some part of him had known that she was near.

"I take it you didn't know I was coming?" Elizabeth asked when she couldn't stand the silence between them anymore.

"No I didn't know it was you that Sonny wanted me to keep an eye on. If I had known…" he trailed off.

He wouldn't have come. She finished the thought for him. She didn't blame him in fact she understood it. She had wrecked his life once. So why should he want to get near her again? Feeling chilled she rubbed her hands over her arms, and kept her eyes on the turbulent ocean. "You don't have to stay." Her voice remained steady as she offered him an out. "I'll be fine here alone, Sonny was just being cautious."

"I doubt that." He turned back to look at her and let out a sigh. "The mere fact that you're here tells me that something serious has happened."

"You don't know? Oh that's right I'm a surprise." She pulled her sunglasses from her hair and slipped them on, grateful for their dark lenses to shield her eyes from his probing gaze. "I'm dead."

"What?"

Elizabeth regretted her bluntness and tried to joke it off. "What? Don't I make a good corpse?" She posed for him, but he just continued to look at her. "Well I was a believable enough corpse that Helena believed, that Nikolas had followed her instructions and poisoned me," she sighed. "So I guess that's all that matters."

"Nikolas poisoned you?" Jason scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Yes and no, he gave me a drug that made me look dead and gave me a hellacious headache to boot. But the important thing though, Helena thought I was dead." She kept talking hoping he wouldn't ask, but of course he did.

"Why?"

"Why?" She stalled for time and looked over at him. The sun was cresting at his back causing bright highlights to shoot through his hair. With his hands on his hips, and his chiseled good looks, he looked like a very displeased Greek god. She knew her answer would upset and probably hurt him. And she was tired of hurting him, she wanted to make things up to him but she didn't know how, or if he would let her.

"Yes why?" He repeated and almost immediately he knew why. The realization caused a mask to descend over his features.

Elizabeth saw the mask arrive and hid the flinch when she saw it. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes, and blinked hard to force them back. She had finally become one of them to him. One of those people that he didn't like, that he hid from, one of the ones he detested. She had never dreamed that she could feel any worse, then she already did, but she was wrong.

The loss and hurt caused the words to spill out of her. "Why? Surely you can guess Jason. Why would I fake my death? Drink something when I'm not sure what it would do to me? Why do I wake up in the morning? Why do I exist? Why have I dropped out of school, dropped all my friends but one? Why don't I paint anymore?" She asked bitterly. "Why did I give you up to turn into a prop for someone I used to love?" She got slowly to her feet. "So in answer to your question. Lucky is why I'm here."

Jason couldn't help but be surprised by her outburst. She had always told him things that she never told anyone else, but she normally didn't let that much out at once. At the mention of Lucky though, everything he was feeling shut off. He rubbed at the back of his neck, he didn't want to hear about Lucky. He didn't want to hear how much she loved him, he had been trying to block that out of his head for months now. "I see."

The cool disinterest was evident in his eyes and it cut her deep, but she brazened it out. "I doubt that, but we'll let it go." She bent over and picked up the blanket. "I'll make it easy on you Jason. I won't try to talk to you, I won't bother you, in fact I'll even leave the room when you come in. That way you don't have to revert to your block of concrete trick." She turned to face him. "Does that sound fair?"

"Elizabeth don't be like this, I don't expect you to avoid me while were here, it's just," he spoke quickly before she could walk away. But now the only words left to say were the ones that would hurt her. "But you are right, I don't want to hear about Lucky and your life."

Sunglasses were a marvelous invention. They could protect someone from seeing when words drove a stake through a heart. 

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"I don't want to be free, I want to be with Lucky."

What goes around comes around, she realized. She didn't try the fake smile that she had been wearing for over a year now, knowing he would see through it in a heartbeat. Instead she kept her face impassive and nodded her head. "That sounds fair Jason." Her voice sounded normal to her ears and for that she was eternally grateful. "I'm going to head inside now. I'm pretty thirsty."

"Okay." He couldn't quite keep the relief from his voice. He needed a few minutes to adjust to being around her again.

She heard the relief and smiled wryly, he couldn't wait to be rid of her. She turned and headed for the house. "For what its worth Jason its nice to see you again." She called from the door. She closed the door before he had the opportunity to reply. That was if he even wanted too.

Jason shrugged out of his jacket and walked towards his motorcycle that was parked on the drive. He needed to call Sonny and find out why Elizabeth had been drugged. Her rambling explanation left a lot of blanks that he needed filled in. He didn't want to question her, because she would try to explain her reasoning and that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at it for a long minute before looking at the house. He'd hurt her. She had tried to hide it, but he'd seen the hurt that he had caused her. He shouldn't feel guilty about it but he did. After all she'd made all the decisions in their relationship, not him. No. He corrected himself and set the phone on the ledge that ran along the drive. They didn't have a relationship, not really, Elizabeth wouldn't let one develop between them.

He wanted to go inside and check on her, old habits died hard he guessed, but instead he crouched by the bike. He had been meaning to change the oil on the bike, and now was as good of a time as any to do that. But he couldn't seem to stop himself from looking at the house every now and then. Christ he'd only been around her for 15 minutes, and it already felt like he was right back in the same place he had been for the past few months in Port Charles. He didn't like that. He didn't know how he was going to survive a few weeks of this.

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~Inside~

Elizabeth pulled on a long sleeved lightweight sweater and moved to the window. He was still there, working on his bike, just like he had been when she had went in to take a shower, when she had gotten out of the shower, while she got dressed, and when… ah the hell with it, she knew he would never leave her alone as long as he thought she was in danger. But she'd much rather have him here because he wanted to be here, instead of having to be here.

"Wishful thinking Webber." She grumbled as she moved to the bed to pull on her hiking boots. "Kind of like you getting dressed for a motorcycle ride that is never going to happen."

It didn't hurt being prepared though. She knew better then almost anyone how much he loved to ride his bike, and she doubted he would leave her alone while he did ride. A part of her hoped that if they did go for a ride like they used too, things might get easier between them. Judging from the awkwardness that had happened on the beach an hour ago, it couldn't get much worse.

All of those times that she had told him she couldn't see him anymore, they had still managed to connect, with their eyes if nothing else. She couldn't help but remember the night of the first Deception launch party, when her and Lucky had returned to Kelly's.

Emily had been nervous and a little scared, Zander had been on edge and Jason had been tense and a little frustrated. She had seen that as soon as she had walked in and she had wanted to find out what had happened. But when Lucky had walked by Jason like he wasn't even there, she had followed him like the obediently trained dog that she was rapidly being turned into. She couldn't help but look back at him though, and when their eyes had met, she'd felt such a sense of longing to hold him that it had shocked her.

Elizabeth frowned at her reflection in the mirror and pulled a brush through her hair. For someone who had vowed never to be a fawning girlfriend whose main goal in life was to make their man happy, she had sure changed her tune awfully quick. At that awful memory she dropped her brush and tried to pinch some color in her too pale cheeks. Even with the makeup she had put on, she was still too white.

"Face it no one would ever believe you were once in the hunt for a modeling contract." She grumbled before heading back to the window.

Jason was still by his bike, but it was all put together again. So he must have finished whatever he had been doing to it. He stretched then and her eyes couldn't help but lock on his chest, and shoulders when the thin cloth of his T-shirt stretched tight over his muscles.

Ogling him from a second story window wasn't very mature. But she had missed seeing him so much that she couldn't work up enough embarrassment at her behavior to walk away from the window. He dropped the rag he was wiping his hands with on the ground and pulled on his jacket, before turning away from the house and towards the street.

Elizabeth focused on the street as well when she saw the tense way Jason was standing. She became tense herself when she saw the redhead. The woman was tall probably 5'9" with long red hair that was cascading over her shoulders. Her curvy figure seemed to overflow the sundress she was wearing. Hell if she breathed too hard she might pop one of those thin straps that were holding the dress up. 

The faint sound of her laughter drifted up to her open window and Elizabeth felt the jealousy burn inside her, as Jason talked to a woman, who looked like sacrifices should be made to her. If that little bitch touched his arm one more time she was going to rip her hair out from her dyed roots, she thought darkly, when the redhead took Jason's hand. Maybe it was time to go outside.

Jason began to follow the woman down the drive and Elizabeth almost screamed in disbelief, he was leaving? Just like that? Her curse trailed off when Jason suddenly jerked and he staggered back, turning slightly towards the house before collapsing on his back on the driveway. Elizabeth could barely make out a red spot that had suddenly appeared on his blue shirt.

The redhead stepped back, and pulled the red thing from his shirt and tossed it away, then stepped back as a black four-door sedan came screeching to a halt next to her and a prone Jason. Two men got out of the car and quickly moved over to them, they nodded while the redhead spoke.

Elizabeth covered her mouth and watched wide-eyed from the second story window, she needed to get some help. She had to help Jason. The bigger of the two men, bent over Jason, and picked him up in a fireman's carry, while the other opened the trunk of the car. She winced for Jason as the man dropped him in the trunk, the thud as he hit the bottom reverberated in her ears. 

The thud broke the paralysis she was under and she began to move, no actually she began to run, she tore down the stairs and headed for the door. She had no idea what she was going to do she just knew that she couldn't let them take him. That she would do whatever she had too, to get him back. She spotted the handle of a decorative cane that was in a pot by the front door and pulled it out and pulled open the door. She flew down the stairs just in time to see the car pull out of the drive.

"Hey." She screamed at the car and hurried down the drive, but the occupants of the car gave no sign that they heard her, and kept driving away. "I got to get help. I need to call Sonny."

She turned back towards the house, when her eye fell on the motorcycle. If she took the time to call Sonny Jason would be gone, and he'd have to waste all of this time finding him. But if she could follow them to wherever they took Jason, and then call Sonny, they would have a head start. She hurried to his bike, after taking a look at the car that was traveling at a slow pace, on the long straight road running parallel to the beach.

Elizabeth was about to climb on when a glint of metal caught her eye. On the ground in front of the rock ledge, was Jason's gun. Without even thinking about it, she crossed to it and picked it up. It felt heavy in her hand. A nervous giggle escaped her lips when she looked at her hands. She had a gun in one hand, and what turned out to be a large umbrella in the other hand. Lara Croft, she definitely wasn't. She dropped the umbrella, then peered at the gun. She saw the safety and saw it was still engaged so she tucked it in the back waistband of her pants. The metal was cool against her skin, and it was unnerving to think about. She saw a sleek silver phone on the ledge and picked it up, hooking it on her waistband, with a final look at the dim taillights on the car, she climbed on the bike.

"God Jason I hope you were only teasing about the wind thing and my weight." She muttered as she levered the bike up and tried to free the kickstand. The bike leaned precariously and she battled it upright. "Christ it is heavy." She put her hand on the key. All of those times she had been riding with Jason and he had let her drive, he had always started the bike for her. "Please." She turned the key and nothing happened.

Her eyes whipped to the car that was nearing an intersection at the edge of her sight, if it turned she would lose the car. She couldn't lose the car. If she lost the car, she would lose Jason, and that wasn't acceptable to her. She closed her eyes and let herself remember how Jason had started the bike all those times. She kept her eyes closed and turned the key the same time she worked the clutch, and it caught.

The engine roared to life and her eyes flew open, the car was making a left turn. "Here goes everything." She muttered before putting the bike in gear and sending herself forward into the wind.


	2. Free Falling

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Author's Notes: I'll be factoring in other characters as we go, so give me a little time. I hope you like my little adventure fic. Please let me know!!!! I have more if you want it.

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One of Those Days

Part II

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~Airport~

"Shit." The exclamation was loud and was followed by a loud crash as the bike connected with a large trash bin. Elizabeth was jarred forward but managed to keep her seat. The engine died immediately and for a minute she could only sit there stunned. 

"You were worried about nothing Jason, this was a piece of cake." She took another breath and finally climbed off the bike, after noticing that there was no need for the kickstand. The front wheel of the bike had been wedged between the trash bin and a wall, and that was holding it upright.

She checked the gun and made sure it was still secure. The weight of it was comforting against her skin and there was a strange feeling of power that she felt when she touched the gun. Next she checked the phone and it was still hooked on her waist. She crouched down beside the trash bin and looked for the car she had been following.

She found it almost immediately, it was next to a very large and very old looking gray plane. The plane's cargo hold was wide open and people were standing on its ramp talking. There were propeller engines visible on the wings. It looked like an old plane from a movie, she almost expected to see a tank roll out of the back. She noticed a set of four drums about ten feet closer to the plane and quickly looked around. When she saw no one was looking she sprinted for the drums and held her breath when she didn't stop on a dime and actually hit one of them, causing a hollow ring sound to echo. 

Elizabeth waited another minute before she peered through the cracks of the barrels at the plane. The redhead was giving orders again. What a flaming bitch. Concentrate Webber, she ordered herself and pulled out the phone. She flipped the flap down and looked at the phone in confusion. What the hell kind of phone was this? There was the normal keypad but in addition to that there were twelve, count them twelve other buttons. "Where the hell is the on switch?" 

She covered her mouth when she realized she had spoken aloud, her eyes searched the area, but no one seemed to hear her. She began to hit the buttons, and after the 6th one the phone gave a little beep and the keypad lit up. Hot damn. This was probably what Jason used when he spoke to Sonny, maybe that was who he called last. She hit redial but nothing happened.

"I already told you Morgan has to be alive upon delivery, or the bounty will not be paid."

The redhead's voice drifted over to Elizabeth and the words made her look up from the phone. Bounty?

"But I owe Morgan." A dark haired man was saying, fingering a livid scar on his face. "And I am going to collect."

"Look." The redhead interrupted. "I said he had to be alive upon delivery, I didn't say what kind of shape he had to be in."

Elizabeth blanched and turned back to the phone. This thing must have a memory system. She hit a few buttons but nothing happened. She was running out of time. She quickly punched in a number from memory, crossed her fingers and hit send. After what seemed like forever the phone began to ring. "Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up." She chanted quietly. "Nuts voicemail." 

At the beep she began to speak. "Nikolas its Elizabeth. I know I'm not supposed to call but something bad has happened. You need to get to Sonny and tell him Jason has been kidnapped. Some redhead bitch and a couple of guys shot him with something, threw him in a trunk and took him to the airport. I heard them talking and they say he has to be alive upon the delivery, but other then that, anything could be done to him." Elizabeth looked back at the car. "You need to tell Sonny to get some help here and now. Shit…" She dropped the phone and rolled away from the drums when she saw a forklift bearing down on the drums.

Elizabeth quickly scampered over and hid behind some crates that were about 20 feet from the plane. She looked back at the forklift in time to see its wheel roll over the phone she had been using. So much for the Calvary she thought bitterly. She checked on the people by the car in time to see the big man pull Jason from the trunk and disappear up the ramp and onto of the plane.

She needed to get on the plane. If that's where Jason was, that was where she needed to be. But how? She watched the woman give a few more orders to the man with the scar, before she got back in the car and drove away. Great one person gone, she shook her head, but there were still about 10 other people around the plane. How could she get on with no one seeing her?

She watched as the forklift rolled up the ramp and offloaded the barrels on the plane then backed, back down. She tapped the crate thoughtfully.

"Wait up Gary."

A man's voice sounded from right in front of the crate and Elizabeth hunched closer to the boards trying to make herself invisible.

"Come on Ray. We got to get this plane out of here, before the regular crew gets back." Another voice called back to the first.

"I know." Ray grumbled and pulled off his over loaded tool belt and rested it on the crate for a minute. "I just have to rearrange this sucker." He called moving his tools around. "Jesus." He cried and some of his tools went flying, when Gary touched his back.

Elizabeth bit hard on her hand to keep from screaming when a hammer fell from the side and hit her in the head. She quickly caught the hammer before it could slide off her and onto the pavement. She held her breath hoping he wouldn't decide to look for it.

"You don't want to make these people mad Ray. So move your ass." Gary ordered.

Elizabeth stayed in place for another minute after their footsteps had faded away. She gripped the hammer in her hand and looked thoughtfully at the crate, before checking where the forklift was. It was loading crates from two pallets over from her. She had a few minutes. She put the hammer up to the side of the edge, claw end first and went to work.

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~Airplane~

"I have got to be insane." That mantra was one she had been repeating over and over, ever since she'd crawled inside the crate almost an hour ago. She had managed to hold it together when the forklift put her on the plane. She was a little unnerved when the crate was shoved around on the floor of the plane. And she did her best not to scream through takeoff, which was always a nerve-racking time for her. But now she was close to losing it, and it was because of the sound. The incredibly loud sound of the engine, was slowly driving her nuts.

Her one thought through all of this was to stay with Jason, and to do that she'd had to get on the plane. Thankfully she had managed to do that. But now she didn't have a flaming idea of what to do next. "Getting out of the box might be a good start." She muttered finally and tapped on the lid of the crate with her hammer. It had occurred to her after she had gotten in the crate, that another crate might be placed on top of hers sealing her in, but that knowledge had come too late for her to do anything about it. Thankfully for her it hadn't happened.

Elizabeth eased the lid of the crate back slowly, keeping a firm grip on the hammer. She sat up and looked around the back of the crowded plane. Thankfully she didn't see anyone else back here, just a lot of drums and crates. She climbed out of the crate and walked towards the front of the plane. The roar of the engines was so loud it was almost deafening so she didn't worry if anyone could hear her. She spotted Jason finally, he was strapped in a seat against the front of the plane.

"Jason." She hurried over to him. He was held upright by the seatbelt, his head was on his chest, his eyes closed. "Please be okay." She set the hammer on the ground and quickly checked for his pulse. "Thank god." She cried in relief when she found it, and felt the steady beat of his heart. "Jason?" She tilted his head up so she could see his face, but his face was slack.

She took another second just to breathe and then began to check him for injury. Her main focus was his chest, looking for the red spot she had seen when he had fallen unconscious. She didn't see any blood on his blue shirt, but she was still worried. She undid his lap belt and pulled on his shirt. "Excuse me. I just need to see if you were shot." She spoke automatically. Her hands slipped under his shirt and she pushed it up his chest. "Sorry that my hands are cold. But have you noticed how freezing it is back here?" Inane though the one-sided conversation was, it was soothing to her.

Elizabeth moved her head closer to his chest, but other then a speck of blood, high on his left pec there wasn't a mark on him. "Good." Relief at him being okay, soon gave way to knowledge that she had her hands all over his chest, and her mouth was practically hovering over his skin. "I should probably put your shirt down now." 

Reluctantly she lowered the shirt, and ran her hands down it to smooth it out, she hesitated at the waistband of his jeans. "You know what? I think I'll let you tuck it in when you wake up." She looked back up into his face. "Speaking of which I really wish you would wake up now. Please Jason I could use your help here."

She put her cold hands on his cheeks and got to her knees in front of him. "Please, we're in trouble here." But there was no response from Jason, not even a sigh. She shivered again from the cold and looked longingly at his leather jacket. "I don't suppose you want to share?" She dropped her hands from his face, and ran them over his chest one more time. "I didn't think so." She took his hands in hers. "Jason I need you here, I'm running out of ideas. You've always been here when I needed you, and even though I haven't returned the favor lately, I still need you to do that again. Please."

Elizabeth jolted when the door on her left opened. She barely had time to move behind a nearby crate before the man with the scar walked out of the cockpit carrying a gun. No it was more then a gun, she thought to herself. She had a gun, she could feel the gun's weight still snug at her back. The thing in his hand looked more like one of those ouzi's they always used in the movies. It looked big, it looked scary, and it looked like they were in more trouble then she'd thought.

"Well Morgan, after all of these years, we're finally in the same room again." The man with scar moved closer to Jason who had slumped forward in his seat. "Do you know how many times I have dreamed about this?" he paused. "Try every night."

Now Elizabeth had dreamed about Jason every night too, but she had a feeling they were different dreams, at least she hoped they were.

Scarman shoved Jason's head back so it hit the wall. "I'm not allowed to kill you, but there are so many things I can do to you, that will make you beg me to kill you."

Elizabeth swallowed hard at his threat and pulled the gun from her pants. Again she couldn't help but notice how heavy it was in her hand. She pushed the safety off and shifted her hold on it, until it was in firing position. Could she do this? Could she actually shoot another person? She'd once held a gun on someone, on Tom Baker the man who had raped her. She had once dreamed of killing him, but in the end she couldn't. In the end she couldn't take even his miserable excuse for a life. 

Now she was holding a gun again, but this time she was holding it not in vengeance or any sort of revenge, but in order to protect someone else. Would that? No could that make a difference?

"I think," Scarman locked a round into place in the gun. "That I will start with your knees."

Her hand shook as she pointed the gun at him, the same time he raised his gun and pointed it at Jason. "Don't." Surprisingly the order came out firm.

Scarman turned from Jason and saw her standing behind the crate. The surprise turned to wariness as he saw the gun in her hand. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"That doesn't matter." Elizabeth kept her voice firm. "Drop the gun and back away from Jason."

He saw how the gun was shaking in her hand, and he could sense the fear coming off of her. "Or what?"

She blinked. "Or I-I will shoot you."

He smiled then. "No you won't, you don't have it in you." He turned back towards Jason.

"Stop I don't want to do this, but I will."

He could hear the tremor in her voice and dismissed her threat. "I don't think so. Once I take care of him, I'll have some fun with you." He raised the gun and pointed it at Jason again.

She didn't even think about it, when the time came she simply reacted. She pulled the trigger a split second before he did. Amazingly enough she hit him in the shoulder, and it caused his arm to jerk. So instead of hitting Jason, the bullets hit the wall behind him. 

Elizabeth was frozen in place, as she watched the man scream in pain and lower the gun. She began to move around the crate when the plane suddenly bucked sending her from her feet and crashing back into a drum, the gun in her hand went flying.

Scarman went flying as well, and his gun fell from his limp fingers. The plane nose-dived suddenly and she felt herself flying forward, until she connected with a crate. When the plane leveled off again, she opened her eyes and spotted his gun lying on the floor, about ten feet away from her. She knew she needed to get the gun before he did.

Elizabeth dove for the gun, crawling the final few feet, her hand closed over the butt of it, the same time he grabbed her ankle and pulled her away from the gun. She screamed and tried to kick free of the hold but couldn't.

Scarman pulled her down then flipped her over so she was pinned underneath him, she kept struggling but she couldn't fight his strength. "You fucking bitch." His bloody hand gripped her chin hard and he rapped her head against the floor of the plane. "I'm going to kill you."

Stunned as she was Elizabeth remembered what she was supposed to do, she went limp in his hold, like she had passed out, and his grip on her loosened enough that she was able to bring a knee up and ram it into his unprotected groin.

"Ooof…" The air came out of him and he hunched over. Elizabeth quickly pushed him off of her and scrambled to her knees. She was crawling to the gun again when the plane banked sharply.

Jason slipped from his seat at the violent movement of the plane and he fell on the controls for the cargo ramp, engaging the doors, causing it to open.

Elizabeth turned back when she heard a siren begin to wail in the room, the noise of the engines seemed to get louder, and a wind began to whip through the cargo bay. "Oh god." She muttered when she saw daylight begin to reveal itself as the bay door began to open.

The wind was already wrecking havoc in the cargo hold. Loose papers, and other lightweight material were already being sucked out of the ever-widening hole. Then a barrel went through as well, and the crates began to shift. Elizabeth felt the pull of the wind herself and she desperately looked for something to hold onto, but she couldn't find anything. "Jason." She couldn't help but scream his name as she began to slide backwards on the floor to the opening.

She rolled to the right in order to miss a crate that went by, her hands looking for anything to slow her. She had almost reached the opening, when she managed to grab hold of a cargo net and stop her slide out the door. She hung there, keeping her eyes closed for a minute in relief. She opened her eyes then immediately rolled to the right as another barrel went flying by her.

Her eyes searched for Jason but he was safe, his body was wrapped around some sort of stick that seemed to be bolted to the floor, so he wasn't sliding anywhere. She had to close the door, before she was sucked out of it. She began to work her way up the net. The wind didn't seem to be as strong along the side of the plane. If she could get away from the hole, and stick to the side she should be fine.

She rolled again when a large crate went by, then tried to move again, only to let out a shriek when a hand closed around her ankle again. She turned back to look and saw Scarman. He was half in, half out of the plane, his bloody left hand was wrapped around her ankle.

"Help me." He screamed.

"Grab the net." She yelled back automatically. Her first instinct was to help him even though he had hurt her, and was trying to hurt Jason.

Instead of doing that he began to crawl up her body, by grabbing onto her right leg. Elizabeth screamed in pain as the weight of his body seemed to pull her leg from her hip socket. "Stop it use the net." She looked up when she heard something begin to tear. The cargo netting was giving way because of his additional weight. "Stop it's tearing." She screamed.

"First I'm going to throw you out of the plane and then I'm going after Morgan." He screamed at her and levered his way farther up her body.

The netting tore some more and Elizabeth screamed in fear. That fear and the pain caused her body to react like she had before. She kicked out with her free leg, and caught him on the chin, he fell to his side and his grip on her knee loosened for a second before tightening again. She kicked again catching him across the nose. 

"No." She screamed loudly, she'd had time to turn around and look, time to regret, before he let go of her leg and spiraled out of the plane. "Oh god." Elizabeth gasped. "What did I do?" 

She buried her face in the netting and let the tears come. She couldn't move, she had killed someone, yet she hadn't meant too. The plane gave another lurch and it drew her from her grief. She had to think about Jason now. With that realization she began to crawl again. After what felt like hours, and left her arms burning she finally made it free of the open ramp and by the side of the airplane. The suction wasn't as strong as it had been, it must be because they had lost altitude, but the fear of being sucked out of the plane wasn't there anymore.

She looked at the closed cockpit door, and the bullet holes in it. The question was why had they lost altitude? Before she could lose her nerve she hurried to the door and pushed it open. Just as quickly she closed it. "Oh god." She covered her mouth and fought the need to be sick. "Jason." She hurried over to him and pulled him over so his head was on her knees. "You've got to wake up now. The pilot's dead, there's blood and broken glass everywhere. There's no one flying the plane, we keep losing altitude, and there are mountains coming up." She tapped on his face. "Please help me Jason." She begged him.

Jason remained limp. "God what do I do?" She ran a hand over her hair. "I can't fly, the pilot's dead. Jason can't fly. What do you do when an airplane is in trouble?" She babbled aloud trying to calm herself. "Parachutes." She carefully set his head on the ground and went to look for them.

"Found them." Elizabeth called after a minute. She stepped closer to him only to stop with a frown. "I found 2 parachutes, and there are two of us, but only one of us is conscious. How the hell is that supposed to work?" She dropped the parachute and began to pace. "I can put them on both of us and shove him out of the plane before I jump. But who would pull the cord?"

"Or I can wear one and just hold onto him." She rolled her eyes. "Get real, you've seen people parachute in the movies there is a yank after you pull the cord, there's no way you could hold onto him. And besides you're not strong enough to hold onto him for the whole trip down."

Elizabeth crossed back to the parachute. "I figured it out Jason." Her voice was overly chipper as she put her hands under his shoulders and began to drag him to the opening. "You're going to wear the chute, and I'm going to hang onto you. What do you think?" She huffed out a breath and tugged him another few feet. "Well if you don't like that idea I suggest you wake up and give me a better one." She tugged hard again and slipped down on her butt. "Jeez Jason for the first time ever I wish you were Lucky, you would be so much easier to move." She jerked again and put him into position by the opening. 

Elizabeth hurried back with the chute, she didn't know how much time they had left. She remembered from watching the discovery channel that you could only use a parachute after a certain altitude, because if you were too low, it wouldn't be able to slow your descent before you hit the ground. "Let's not think about hitting the ground." She admonished herself and began to work first one leg through the loop at the bottom then his other. She worked the chute up his body, over his thighs, before moving to his shoulders again and tugging from that end to get it snug over his ass. She propped Jason up while she worked his arms through the loops. "Damn but you smell good."

"Focus Elizabeth." She eased him back down, and moved so she was straddling his hips while she hooked all of the individual locks into place. "There's the rip cord." She announced unnecessarily, before turning to look out the opening and the blue sky that was visible. "Please wake up Jason." She turned away from the blue yonder and focused on him again.

She ran a hand over his face, but he remained asleep. "Alright I can do this. I'll just wrap myself around you, and we'll fall out of the plane. Then I'll pull the cord and hold on tight. It will be so easy." A tear slipped from her eye, and she quickly wiped it from her face. "You're not allowed to die Jason." She pulled on his jacket tugging him up so he was sitting. "Do you hear me?"

She looked toward her right again at the open sky. "If I don't live there's something I want you to know." She turned back to him, and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "I love you Jason Morgan." Then she pressed her lips against his non-responsive ones for minute. "I just thought you should know that." She whispered against his lips when she pulled away.

Before she had a chance to give into her fear of dying, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and jerked hard to the right. She fell down on the ramp and brought Jason with her, gravity took over from there, and they rolled off the ramp and into the wind.


	3. Falling with style to the bleeping red...

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Babble: The only way I get paid is if people reply. So please pay me… lol

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One of Those Days

Part III

****

~The Wild Blue Yonder~

It felt stranger then she'd thought it would feel, to fly. Or, she corrected herself to fall through the air. Her mind kept replaying an old cartoon she had once seen. 

__

"I fly?"

"No you fall."

Elizabeth would much rather be the one flying then falling. Her arms were locked around Jason's neck, her feet hooked at her ankles around his hips, and her face was buried in his neck. She couldn't quite bring herself to open her eyes, but she knew she had too. She had to pull the ripcord or they really would die.

__

"You can't fly. It's falling with style."

She really needed to stop watching cartoons. 

Elizabeth shook her head and turned to the right and opened her eyes looking for the horseshoe like handle. It seemed a lot farther away then it had been when they had been on the plane. "God." The word barely reached her ears. The wind stole the word as soon as it came out of her mouth.

Reluctantly she let go of Jason and reached out with her right hand towards the handle. During the few seconds it took her to grab the handle her brain had plenty of time to play out worse case scenarios in her head. The chute wouldn't open and they would die. She wouldn't be able to hold on with the chute opened and she would go splat while Jason fell at a much slower rate.

In the end Elizabeth didn't have a choice, she tightened her grip, closed her eyes and yanked on the cord. She was anticipating a hard jerk and she wasn't disappointed. Jason's body stopped its freefall abruptly and skyrocketed upward as the chute expanded, and thankfully she went along for the ride.

After the initial shock of being alive wore off, she gradually realized that the pressure of the wind wasn't as strong as it had been. She felt a strange pressure at her back that was propelling her even closer to Jason. It was hard to breathe, but at least they had stopped freefalling.

As they drifted the compulsion to open her eyes was growing inside of her and she finally gave into temptation and opened her eyes. The sky was a brilliant blue, she looked at Jason but he was still out, she couldn't believe he was missing this. She wondered if he would even believe her when she told him what happened. Feeling braver Elizabeth looked down.

"Oh man." It was unnerving to see the ground below her, with nothing between her and it, especially thousands of feet. It was unsettling but not as scary as she'd thought it would be. She relaxed slightly deciding she might as well enjoy the ride, because it looked like they were going to survive it. She would feel a lot better if Jason's arms were wrapped around her, and helping to support her weight. She still felt a bit precarious, like she could fall.

As if she had spoken the words aloud a sudden gust of wind came from underneath them and caught her off-guard. Elizabeth screamed and tightened her arms around his neck, when her foot jerked and slipped free of his hips. She tried to wrap her legs around him again, but it was hard to move against the force of the wind. Another blast of wind came from the side and without someone to control the parachute, and move it with the wind, the chute began to twist.

Elizabeth tried hard to hold on but the spiraling they were doing kept increasing and her arms were getting tired of holding her up. Without her legs to help support some of the weight she was beginning to slip.

"Jason wake up." Elizabeth screamed for help as they were buffeted by the wind again and her hands slipped farther apart. Another rotation, and her hands broke loose of each other and slipped from his neck.

Elizabeth managed to catch herself by grabbing his hips. "Wake up." The wind rocked them again and again she slipped. Gravity began to work and her body slid down his, until she was gripping his right leg around his thigh, her legs were kicking out trying to propel her back up.

Her strength was going, and she couldn't help but look down again. The ground was a lot closer then it had been, but it still seemed to be too far away to live if she fell. But gravity was an unforgiving thing. You couldn't beg with it, or trick it, in the end it would win. Elizabeth slid further down his leg until she was holding onto his boot.

Tears slipped from her eyes and she tried to lever herself back up his body. The wind whipped them again and tore her free. "Jason." Elizabeth screamed as she began her freefall into nothing.

****

~Port Charles Underground Lab~

Nikolas looked through the glass at his dead father and tried not to get sick. He'd always known that his grandmother was ruthless, but until this point he hadn't known that she was insane as well. Insanity was the only way he could explain her actions. No rational person would freeze someone for 20 years, the idea of it sounded like the stupid plot of some asinine soap opera.

He looked around the lab, grateful that Helena had let him alone after her disclosure. He didn't know if he could act like he knew he was supposed too. There was no way for him to prepare himself for this revelation. He had thought she had reached her pinnacle of cruelty when she had ordered him to kill Elizabeth, but to freeze her own son and then propose to unthaw him after twenty years was truly idiotic.

"She is insane." Nikolas admitted, focusing on his father again. It was strange to look at him, his only exposure he could ever remember having with his father was through portraits and photographs. Now here he was, he looked the same as he had in the photographs, but it was still different. "You were insane as well, so I hear. I have to wonder if it runs in the family," he sighed. "I hope Laura's genes are the dominant ones."

"I won't let her win. I won't let her continue to use, threaten, and kill people all in the name of her endless request for power and domination." Nikolas rested his hands on the glass. "So I will do whatever I have to do, to convince her that I support her. If that means I tell her I can't wait for her to resuscitate you, I'll do it." He lowered his voice. "But hear me father, if you are truly in there, if she is successful. And for some ungodly reason she manages to bring you back, I will do whatever I have too to destroy you and her. I hate you both for what you've done, both now and in the past."

Stavros' face remained impassive but inside he seethed. This was not the Nikolas he had expected.

Feeling a little more in control, Nikolas shifted so he was leaning against the chamber, and pulled his phone from his pocket. After this he needed a feeling a normalcy. The first message was from Stefan. He pressed the volume up on the control pad trying to hear what his uncle said. If he needed another reason to hate Helena, Stefan had just provided it.

Stefan was in jail for the murder of Chloe and he'd had no choice but to leave him in there. For that alone he could kill Helena. His musings were broken off when a loud feminine voice came over the receiver. He pulled the phone away from his ear and lowered the volume. 

__

"Nikolas it's me Elizabeth. I know I'm not supposed to call…"

Nikolas pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the rest of her message. Fear clutched at him when he heard her swear and then the line go dead. According to the memory she had called at 4:18 p.m., he looked at his watch it was 5:40 now. He needed to get out of here. He put the phone away and headed for the door.

"Nikolas where are you going?"

He wiped the concern from his face and carefully stripped all emotion from his eyes before turning to face Helena. "I was ready to leave. I have no desire to be around my father. He is dead after all."

Helena moved further into the room. "But what if he wasn't? Surely you've considered how wonderful that would be. You have missed your father your whole life. What if I could give him back to you?"

Nikolas looked her in the eyes and had no qualms in lying to her. "I can't allow myself to dream of that grandmother. I have no desire to be disappointed. You are correct I have dreamed of meeting my father, but I will not get my hopes up for something that will never be."

"Oh my darling Nikolas." Helena paused by Stavros, she was thrilled with his reply, she readied herself to fulfill his dream. "You see…" she glanced down at Stavros and trailed off when he opened his eyes and shook his head.

"Grandmother I really do need some time alone." Nikolas turned back to the door. "I'll see you later."

Stavros pushed the glass up as soon as Nikolas closed the door.

"Stavros why did you stop me from telling him?" Helena stepped back so he could get out of the container.

"Not now mother. For now he doesn't need to know." Stavros ordered in dismissal before heading out the door and following his son.

****

~Splat~

Elizabeth's scream was cut off when she hit the water at full speed. The force she was traveling was so fast that it propelled her deep under the water. The impact stunned her, her breath was gone, her mouth open, and the suddenness of her stop stunned her so she did nothing for a second. Pain entered her body along with the water and that propelled her to move. She began to kick, trying to fight her way to the surface. Her lungs were burning, when she finally broke the water and found the daylight again. She sucked in air and floated in the water. It was hard to force air back in her lungs. Fear was still clogging her throat, making it difficult to breathe.

Elizabeth focused on the shore, which was about 10 yards away and forced herself to move towards it. After an eternity her feet touched the ground and she staggered the rest of the way out of the water and collapsed on the sand. The contact with the sand finally broke her fear and reaction began to set in. Her shaking intensified as she coughed up water.

She had done it, she'd jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and she had survived. She laid there for a few minutes longer trying to let that fact sink in. Jason's image suddenly entered her head and compelled her to move. She struggled to her feet and looked around hoping to see a parachute.

Her eyes widened as she finally took in her surroundings. She was at the edge of a small lagoon. There were cliffs on three sides of it, the only way out was through the shore and to the trees visible behind it. The beach she was on was only about 25 yards long.

"Jason." She yelled and her voice echoed back to her. "That makes a lot of sense Webber, calling for a man who is unconscious." Elizabeth shook her head and began to walk towards the trees, wringing the dripping water from her hair as she did.

****

~*~

"Jason, great now I'm back to screaming again." Elizabeth muttered as she walked through another set of tress. She had been looking for Jason for almost a half an hour now and it was getting harder and harder to battle back the fear.

What if he had landed in some water too? If he was still unconscious, and the parachute covered him, he could drown. Or what if he continued to ride the wind, he could have landed miles away from her. She didn't even know if she was heading in the right direction.

"I'm trying to stay positive here Jason." She announced to the squirrel on the ground beside her, startling it so it took off running. She had discovered it was easier for her to go on if she talked. "But I left all my positive pills in Port Charles, so I'm existing on reality here. And reality is scary as hell for me." She entered a small clearing and couldn't help but notice how dark the sky was getting. She had to find him before night fell.

"Suck it up Webber." She ordered and plunged into the next grove of trees. She had learned the hard way that she needed to watch her step if she didn't want to fall. She was so busy watching the ground that she let out a scream when something went brushing by her head.

"Jesus." Elizabeth cried, jerking backward, her hands automatically going to her head to protect it. She focused on the area around her and was stunned when she saw a pair of boots hanging there a little above eye level. "Jason?"

She took her first easy breath in hours when she realized that he was still inside the boots. The smile faded when she realized he was still unconscious. "Why a tree Jason? With everyplace you could have landed, why did you have to pick a tree?" She demanded putting her hands on her hips. "And a tall tree to boot?"

Elizabeth studied the tree he was hanging from, there were several limbs low enough that she climb them if she had too. There was also a branch a little over his head that went out far enough that she could probably reach his harness. The only thing was, she couldn't help but remember the last time she had climbed a tree. That time she had found the ground rather rudely and ended up with a broken arm. That had been her last tree climbing experience. When she used to sneak out of Audrey's she had thanked god for the trellis on the side of the house, otherwise she would have never went anywhere.

"I suppose I could just let you hang there, the main thing is that I found you and I know you're okay." Elizabeth moved back over and took up a position underneath him and looked up at him. "What you have no opinion?" Even when he was unconscious she couldn't help but tease. She knew that most of it was born out of relief that they were both still alive, but still it felt good to be around him again. Her eyes caught a smear of blood on his forehead and her relief faded. She touched his boot, turning him so she could see his face clearer in the dim light.

That slash of red made up her mind for her and she headed for the tree. She rubbed her hands on her still damp pants before jumping up and grabbing the lowest limb. "Oh nuts." She grumbled when her already sore muscles wept at that move.

****

~Docks~

"Sonny." Nikolas stepped out of the shadows when he recognized the man heading his way.

"Nikolas." Sonny stopped n surprise and looked around. "We shouldn't be seen talking."

"We don't have a choice," Nikolas kept his voice low, and his eyes trained on the man in the suit. "I got a voicemail from Elizabeth. She said Jason was kidnapped and she followed the kidnappers to an airport."

"What?" Sonny shook his head automatically. Jason was too good to be caught off-guard, especially if Elizabeth was around him. "That's impossible."

"Is he with Elizabeth?" Nikolas demanded and when Sonny didn't answer he went on. "Then its possible. Elizabeth sounded scared on the phone and she was cutoff rather abruptly." He was trying to block out the memory of how the call had ended.

"Did she say how many?" Sonny nodded at Johnny for him to come into hearing range.

"She said it was a redheaded woman and two men. She also mentioned that Jason had to be alive on delivery but that was it." Nikolas ran a hand through his short dark hair. He had hoped by sending Elizabeth away that he was getting her out of danger, now it seemed like he was sending her into it. He could tell from Sonny's expression that he had no idea that this had happened, or that it was even a possibility, and that concerned him. Sonny had never struck him as the type to be caught off-guard. "Look Sonny she was talking on the phone and then she sort of screamed and it went dead. They might have her now too, you know where she is, so help her."

"I will." Sonny snapped, trying to think. "She said they were at an airport?"

"Yes."

The distant sound of voices reached their ears and all three men tensed. "You need to leave." Sonny ordered Nikolas.

Nikolas wanted to protest but knew Sonny was right. "You have to keep me informed."

Sonny nodded and Nikolas hurried away.

"Johnny contact Manny and have him check out the house. He should still be there, he wasn't supposed to leave until Jason checked in with him." Sonny began as he headed down the docks towards his waiting limo. "Then get Francis to the penthouse, he's going down there. Have Benny start checking, this sounded like a professional grab. Since they didn't' kill him there, it is probably a bounty shot. Find out who wants Jason, I don't like this." His eyes flashed angrily, someone was going to pay.

Stavros waited until he couldn't hear their voices anymore before he stepped out of the shadows. So Elizabeth Webber was not only alive, she was with Jason Morgan. He frowned in the direction his son had disappeared. His son was working with the mob against Helena. The white of his teeth flashed in the dark as he gave a feral smile. There was so much of him in his son, he began to whistle under his breath as he headed back to the lab.

****

~The Woods~

"Oh God, I'm sorry Jason." Elizabeth called to him as she dropped down from the tree and hurried over to where Jason was lying in a heap on the ground. "I didn't think you'd fall quite so hard. Please be okay."

She crouched beside him, and pulled on his shoulder until his head was resting on her knees. "Jason?" She whispered his name, while running a hand over his face. The blood on his forehead, that had scared her so, was already dried. She felt the scratch, along his hairline that had caused the blood, next she checked his pulse and sighed in relief when she found the steady beat of it.

Elizabeth shifted so she was sitting on the ground and tugged on his shoulders so his head and shoulders were on her lap. Night had almost fully claimed them and the trees around them were beginning to come alive with their night noises. 

"So this is fun." She spoke nervously. She enjoyed the outdoors, but little miss nature girl she was not, and truth be told she would much rather look at the sky then dark tree limbs.

Elizabeth glanced at Jason whose eyes were still closed. She sighed and touched his face, at least while he was unconscious he couldn't be cold to her, so for that she was relieved. But it was rapidly coming to a point that she would rather have him awake and stiff with her, then asleep leaving her all alone.

"Well I think I'll go explore a bit, and see if I can't find a better place for us to rest." She put his head back on the ground and got to her feet. "Don't go anywhere." She shook her head, man she needed help.

****

~Penthouse~

__

"Mr. Corinthos." Manny spoke nervously, knowing his boss wasn't going to like his report.

"What did you find?"

__

"When I got to the house the front door was wide open, there was a radio left on in the room Miss Webber was using, and her curling iron was still on in the bathroom. Jason had definitely been here, it looks like he was working on his bike, some parts are still spread out on the drive." Manny paused and shook his head in confusion. "I even found an umbrella from the house, on the ground next to some oil bottles, but it hasn't rained here in weeks. But there is no one here."

"Damn." It was looking more and more like what Nikolas had told him was correct and Jason had been grabbed. "Elizabeth said she trailed them to an airport. There are only three airports on the island, one commercial and two private ones. I want you to check them out carefully." Sonny warned him. "I don't want to tip anyone to the fact that we know he's gone. And I don't want anyone else to find out about this."

__

"There's more on the ground I found a dart, it's very small, like it would fit a gun."

"That would explain how they got Jason without a struggle." Sonny waved Francis and Johnny in the room when the penthouse door opened.

"After you check the airports call me back. Francis will be on the next flight, he should be there in about 5 hours. You'll follow his lead when he arrives." Sonny ordered and hung up before Manny had a chance to reply.

__

Sonny faced the new arrivals. "It looks like what the Cassadine kid said is true. Jason was at the house and now both of them are missing. I haven't been able to reach Jason on his cell either, and that's a first."

"I've got Benny checking around." Johnny offered. "So far nothing."

Sonny poured himself a scotch, he was trying to keep his focus on tow levels, both as a concerned friend, and as a worried partner in a dangerous business. "We need to find him and Elizabeth, and we need to find them now." He focused on Francis. "I don't need to tell you how important this is, do I?"

"No." Everyone knew Sonny considered Jason as is family, and he probably knew better then anyone just how much respect Sonny had for Elizabeth.

"We need to keep this as quiet as possible. If word gets out that Jason Morgan is missing or dead, things will get much worse." Sonny reached in his desk, retrieved a phone and tossed it to Francis. "Use that for communicating with me, and give it to Jason when you find him."

Francis nodded and put the phone away. "I should get to the airport. My flight leaves in 45 minutes."

Sonny nodded and held out his hand in farewell, letting his eyes say what he couldn't bring himself to say. "Find them."

****

~Clearing~

"God Jason I think my couch is easier to move then you." Elizabeth grumbled and managed to drag Jason a few more feet before having to rest again. Luckily for her there had been a clearing on the other side of the trees she had found him in. This clearing even had a small stream and that was where she was aiming for.

If nothing else her adventures today had given her a new respect for gravity. There was an incline leading down into the clearing, but unfortunately for her, it stopped before reaching the stream. So she was back to the dragging method, and muscles she didn't know she had were screaming at her in revolt.

"I suppose I should tell you that I borrowed your bike." Elizabeth began conversationally as she reached under his shoulders again and tugged hard. "I didn't really have a choice," she huffed out a breath. "It's fine I'm sure you won't even notice that scratch on the right side."

She gave another hard tug and her feet slipped out from underneath her causing her to fall hard on her butt. She laid back on the ground in exhaustion, part of Jason's upper body was pinning her legs to the ground. She studied the sky, the first of the evening's stars were beginning to come to life, she was glad it was a clear night. Reluctantly she sat up, they were on a relatively flat patch of grass about 7ft. from the stream. "You know what, I think here is a good spot to rest."

Elizabeth shifted carefully and got to her feet heading for the stream. She knew there were probably a dozen good reasons why she shouldn't drink from the stream, but she was so thirsty that she couldn't think of one. Still she sipped in moderation, only enough to quench the worst of her thirst.

"I don't suppose you have a handkerchief?" She turned to face him. "I doubt you do." She studied his jeans. "And it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to go looking in your pockets for one. It would be fun though." With a slight laugh she turned back to the water and dipped her arm in the cold spring.

She crossed back to him and used her now dripping sleeve to bathe his face, getting off the remains of the blood and the dirt. She also hoped that the coldness would awaken him, but Jason slept on. "You know I'm going to start calling you Rip if you keep this up."

Elizabeth sighed and sat on the ground next to him, the day had taken its toll on her, and exhaustion was seeping in. "I suppose I should keep watch, for what I have no idea, but that's what they always do when someone is lost in the woods." Her eyes widened. "Of course the other thing they do, is get chased by some crazed axe murderer. But lets not go there."

A screech sounded from the woods, and she shifted a little closer to Jason. "Are you cold?" She asked even though the night was still pretty humid. She rested her head on her knees, and her eyes began to drift shut. "I think I still have some of that drug in me, because I'm awfully tired."

Another screech sounded but she never even flinched, her sleepy eyes were locked on the steady rise and fall of Jason's chest. Once he woke up, things would change between them again, he would put the wall back up between them. The wall that she had helped him build. She hated that wall. She bit her lip and considered her options. This would probably be the last time, hell the only time that she could sleep with him. 

"You wouldn't mind too much would you Jason?" And even if he did, she would have a memory to take with her. She shifted so she was lying beside him, then argued with herself for a half a minute before moving and laying her head over the steady beat of his heart. "I'll just close my eyes for a minu…"

****

~Lab~

"Stavros where did you disappear to this time?" Helena pounced as soon as he walked through the door.

Stavros paused and studied her coldly. "What has set you off this time?"

"It's that damn Webber girl. I searched her things for the ice princess and couldn't find it anywhere."

"I thought the Spencer boy threw it in the river." He commented stepping farther away from Helena as she pressed closer. He really loathed the perfume she insisted on bathing in.

"My sources tell me that she got it back. That was another reason I wanted Nikolas to kill her, so we could get the diamond back." Helena paced away, missing the look of craftiness that crossed Stavros face. "Now the girl is dead and I may never retrieve it."

"Don't worry mother, things have a way of working out." Stavros said with a smirk, before heading out the door.

"What do you mean by that?" Helena turned around but he was gone.

****

~Clearing~

The first thing he felt upon waking was the pain in his head. He hadn't had a headache this bad since he had woken up in the hospital the first time. The second thing he became aware of was a slight weight pressing on his chest. Jason opened his eyes and the work seemed to be out of focus, he closed his eyes and waited a second before trying again.

This time things came into focus, he realized he was staring up into a starry night. He tilted his head and looked down at his chest, frowning when he saw brown curls. He pushed past the headache and tried to remember. Sonny. Motorcycle. Beach. Elizabeth. Bike. Elizabeth. Woman. Gun. Elizabeth. The memories hit him quick and he sat up quickly, his arms tightening on Elizabeth automatically bringing her up with him. His eyes scanned the area, and he didn't recognize anything, but he had the feeling they were alone.

He frowned down at Elizabeth when she didn't stir at his movements. "Elizabeth?" He tilted her head by the chin, her eyes were closed, and he could feel her breath on his hand and sighed in relief, she didn't look hurt. He laid her back on the ground and got slowly to his feet. Besides the headache, is right knee was throbbing a bit. He ignored that and moved to the stream and drank. The longer he was awake the more sure he was, that they were alone in the middle of nowhere. He frowned back at Elizabeth. He needed some answers and he wanted them now.

"Elizabeth." He crossed back to her. "Wake up."

****

~Plane~

"Would you like a drink?" Deanna the perky blonde stewardess asked for the fifth time in 20 minutes and was disappointed when she got the same reply.

"No thank you." Francis barely even looked up from his magazine. He had learned the hard way about women like her. If you even looked at them, they never let go. Clingers are what Johnny called them, and that suited the woman to a tee.

Deanna couldn't quite stop the frown as she moved on to the other interesting male in first class. "Would you like some more champagne?"

"Yes of course." Stavros smiled at her. A little vapid but eye-candy nonetheless.

****

~Clearing~ 

"Elizabeth." Jason repeated her name again, and checked her pulse in concern. He had been trying unsuccessfully to wake her for a few minutes now.

"Just a little longer gram." Elizabeth mumbled and tried to turn on her side.

Jason smiled slightly and shook his head. "Elizabeth wake up."

Her eyes shot open at the tense command, it took her a second for her to place the voice, once she did she sat up quickly and catching Jason off-guard she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank god you're finally awake."

Jason's arms tightened automatically around her, he had missed holding her so much, that it felt so right having her back in his arms. The distance he was trying to keep between them, disappeared for a minute as he held her.

"I was so afraid you were never going to wake up." His neck muffled her words, but she was afraid to let go of him.

"I'm okay." Jason ran a hand over her back soothingly, his hand came in contact with her skin on her lower back, and it surprised him. That surprise forced him back into reality and he drew back from her.

Elizabeth let her arms drop reluctantly and was quiet as she studied him. There was a full moon, so there was plenty of light to see his face, only some of the angles were unreadable.

"Where are we?" Jason asked after a minute. "How did we get here?"

"I don't know where we are, and it's a complicated story." Elizabeth smothered a yawn.

Jason rubbed at his eyes and sat back on the ground, his knee was throbbing too much to keep crouching. "How?"

Elizabeth frowned at his withdrawal from her. Even after everything they had went through he still was pulling away from her. All the tension and stress of the day finally caught up with her and she let it out in a flash.

"I'll tell you how? It was the little redhead bitch you were flirting with, she shot you with something and let two of her goons throw you in a trunk and I had to follow you. And you know what? They took you on an airplane, so then I had to find out a way to get on the airplane." She sucked in a quick breath and then hurried on. "And I got hit by a hammer trying to do it, but did I let that stop me? No." She shook her head. "I got on the plane, and when Scarman tried to shoot you I stopped him, and we fought and then…" Warning sirens went off in her head and she moved on, she wasn't ready to deal with what she did to Scarman.

"Then the pilot was dead and no one could fly the plane and I couldn't wake you up, so we had to parachute." She pointed out him wearily. "God Jason you could stand to lose some weight or muscles, you're no picnic to move, let me tell you. So then we fell out of the plane and then of course you were still unconscious so I fell away from you and hit the water." She looked at her sweater, which had shrunk. "And this was new, now it's small, all because you wouldn't wake up. Then I had to find out where you landed and once again drag your ass down here, and why did all of this happen? Because you had to flirt with a fucking redhead."

Jason's mouth dropped open in surprise.


	4. Vipers, Blondes, Bad Betty and the Dark

****

Disclaimer: The usual, some are mine, the ones you could possibly sue me for aren't.

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Babble: Thanks so much for the replies I've received they really help the writing process. I'm expanding the story in the next several chapters, widening the characters involved. If you see a name you don't recognize don't worry they're probably mine and will be explained.

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****

One of Those Days

Part IV

****

~Airport~

Francis stretched again while he waited in the customs line. Five hours on a plane always took it out of him. Even flying first class, like Sonny always insisted, was rough. He was too tall and broad to fit easily in those seats for that long of a time. And with the blonde viper of a flight attendant ready to pounce every time he moved, he couldn't get up and walk around like he normally did. 

It wasn't that he was afraid of women, in his line of work he couldn't have that bias. He had no qualms about dealing with a woman holding a gun on him. But when faced with a woman who wanted nothing more then to get in his pants, and it was another story. Francis shuddered and banished her from his mind as he stepped up to the customs agent.

"Take your break Rosalita." A swarthy looking dark-haired man, with the nametag of Rodrigo tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes Senor." The diminutive woman hurried away being careful not to look to closely at the man on the other side of the counter. She had worked here for 25 years, she knew when to look at someone and when to look the other way.

Francis set his carryon on the counter and held out his passport.

"Business of pleasure sir?" Rodrigo asked taking the passport and ignoring the bag entirely.

"A little of both," Francis replied easily.

"Enjoy your stay." Rodrigo handed the passport back and turned to the next person in line. His mind was so busy calculating what he would buy with the money he had just earned from Mr. Corinthos that he barely even glanced at the next passport, before stamping it.

Stavros took his passport back and trailed Francis from the terminal. He had to admit that Corinthos paved the way for his employees.

Francis stepped out into the light mist that was falling and his clothes began to stick immediately. It may be November but it was still humid as hell down here. He spotted his ride immediately and headed for the car. "Manny."

"Mr. Carnivale." Manny pushed away from the car and reached for his bag.

"Knock it off Manny, you know my name is Francis." He kept hold of his bag and opened the passenger door. "Let's get going."

"Anything you say Carny." Manny replied with a smirk before shutting the door. Francis hated being teased about his name, of course that meant he always did it.

Francis glanced at his watch it was 11:50 p.m., he could take the time to kick Manny's ass but that might set his schedule back, so he made a mental note to do it before he left town. "What have you found out?" He asked once Manny was settled.

"I've narrowed it down to one airport, the one out on Toronado Lane. Apparently the employees there were very mysteriously given two hours off, from 3:00 to 5:00 today. That's never happened before." Manny checked the rearview out of habit and pulled out into the heavy traffic that was still flowing.

"That sounds promising. Who ordered it?" Francis stayed relaxed even as Manny began the ritual of passing the cars at a breakneck speed. He had been here so many times before, that he knew the only way anyone got anywhere was by driving like a bat out of hell.

"A Mr. Guttroal ordered it, apparently him and most of the employees frequent a bar on the Southside called El Gatto." Manny drove like normal, since he wasn't guarding anyone, and they weren't on any sort of alert, he didn't bother to check for a tail like he normally would.

Francis closed his eyes and said a prayer at the mention of El Gatto. Maybe she wouldn't be there anymore, maybe she had quit, or died, or maybe she would have forgotten. He snorted in disbelief and maybe he could fly. Once he found Jason he was going to kick his ass for making him go to El Gatto to find out about him. He began to work out the kinks in his neck and shoulders, he was going to need to be ready for anything by the time they got to the bar.

~*~*~

"If you lose the car you won't like what will happen." Stavros warned the cabbie.

The Cabbie's eyes went to the rearview mirror and then quickly skittered away and he stepped on the gas. There were some people in this world you just didn't question.

****

~Puerto Rico~

She frowned at her computer screen in disbelief. The deposit she was expecting still had not arrived in her account. You wouldn't believe it by looking at the classy serene looking brunette, but she was seething mad. No one stiffed her for a job, no one.

"Are you coming to the Casino?"

The low masculine voice, with a hint of an accent came from behind her and to the right and belonged to her latest paramour. She turned with a sultry smile and studied the dark-haired man who was lounging on her sofa the way only devastatingly rich and handsome men could. Her experienced eye took in the Armani Tux that fit him like a dream. "Not right now." Her voice was low and pleasing to the ear. "I was expecting something from the office and it hasn't arrived yet."

"Pity." With ingrained grace he pushed off the sofa and crossed to her. He had learned early in their relationship never to interfere with her work. He brushed a kiss on her lips. "Join me soon cara."

"Perhaps." She said coyly and turned back to the computer before he could respond. One look at the screen and he was instantly forgotten. The bounty she had earned in retrieving Jason Morgan should have been deposited in her account when the plane had landed in Boston. That was three hours ago, she had given the client an extra two hours grace time, but it still hadn't arrived.

With a sigh she got up from the computer and crossed to her trunk, a few touches and she had trigged the hidden panel, exposing her tools. It was time to remind the client what happened when she wasn't paid. But first of course, she needed to make sure she couldn't be tracked.

****

~Clearing~

"Elizabeth." Jason finally managed to find his voice about a minute after her outburst. It had taken him that long to recover from her last line. He couldn't remember hearing her curse before. "Are you al…"

"Shut up Jason I'm still talking here," Elizabeth interrupted him with a glare. "Now you have been sleeping for hours and hours, while I have been running around here trying to save your ass." She broke off to yawn. "Now don't get me wrong it's a nice ass, I don't mind saving it, but I really don't feel like talking to you right now." She yawned again and stretched, before peering up at him. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, and all of my muscles feel like they're in revolt because I've been dragging you around forever. So you are just going to have to wait for further explanations."

She ignored his stunned expression and laid back on the ground. "I'll tell you everything later, and when I do you can go back to giving me that look of disapproval and disappointment, that I am unfortunately very familiar with, but for now will you kindly be quiet so I can get some sleep?" Without waiting for his response she rolled on her side away from him and closed her eyes.

Jason rubbed a hand over his face and tried to figure out what the hell had happened. Elizabeth was mad at him that much was obvious, but for what exactly, wasn't entirely clear. But what bothered him the most, was the disapproval and disappointment she seemed to think he was going to use on her. He had never looked at her like that. "Elizabeth."

"Be quiet Rip."

That stopped him. Rip? Maybe she was hurt in someway, he hadn't seen any signs of violence on her, but even though it was a full moon, it still wasn't as clear as daylight so he might have missed some injury. "Elizabeth," he tried again, he wasn't just going to let things drop.

"Elizabeth?" Again there was no response, he shifted closer, heard her deep even breathing, and sat back in surprise. She had fallen asleep already. He needed answers, so he entertained the thought of waking her up and demanding them from her, in fact his hand was already on her shoulder to shake her awake.

She sighed sleepily and drew his attention to her face, the moonlight slanted over it and he could see the dark shadows under her eyes and he dropped his hand. She had looked very pale and thin on the beach earlier today, and for her to fall asleep in less then a minute, meant she was near exhaustion.

For now he'd let her sleep, she wasn't going to be going anywhere without him, so answers to his questions could wait for the morning. He pulled off his jacket and folded it up into a pillow. Then he crouched beside her and carefully slid his hand under her head and lifted it high enough to slide the coat underneath it.

Her breath was warm on his hand, and her skin was soft to the touch and he reluctantly pulled his hand away from her face. Elizabeth sighed and settled more securely on the coat. He couldn't stop himself from running his thumb over her exposed cheek. It was soft to the touch, and warm under his hand. The texture of it was familiar to him almost as familiar as his own. "Goodnight Elizabeth." He whispered finally.

"Night Jason."

Surprised at her response he dropped his hand and moved farther away from her. He stared blindly out at the night and tried to remember just what the hell had happened. Most of it was a blank, and the more he tried to remember the more his head hurt. He could remember flashes of conversations, but they were jumbled and made no sense to him at the moment. It was hard to concentrate because he still felt groggy, no doubt thanks to the drugs he had been given.

He smothered another yawn and leaned back on his elbows to study the sky. It was strangely peaceful here, even though he didn't know where here was, he didn't feel uneasy and that surprised him. He glanced at his watch, the illuminated dial read 12:15 he had lost over 8 hours of time. He yawned again and sat back up trying to stay alert. Peaceful or not, he shouldn't let his guard down, especially because he wasn't alone here.

Elizabeth rolled over in her sleep so she was facing him. Whatever happened he needed to make sure that she got out of this safely. From her earlier ramblings it was clear that some things had happened, that she seemed to blame him for. He could also tell from what she hadn't said that something had happened that had scared her. The knowledge of the fact that she had been scared while he was unable to do anything to help her, made him angry, angry enough that he was going to be damned sure that nothing else happened to her.

Jason was surprised to find himself lying on the ground next to her, he didn't even remember moving. One of her hands was shoved under his jacket, the other was on the ground a little in front of her face. He rolled on his side and mimicked her position. He knew he needed to stay away from her, that she had the power to hurt him even when she wasn't aware of it. But she looked so vulnerable and beautiful in her sleep that his defenses crashed down.

It wouldn't be that bad to just let go of the hurt and the anger for the rest of the night, and instead focus on being near her again. His eyes drifted closed and his last conscious thought before sleep claimed him was how nice her hand felt under his.

****

~Puerto Rico~

"Darling what are you doing?"

"Sorry Anton but I need to leave." She brushed past him into the bathroom to get her makeup bag.

"Just like that?" Anton was stunned. He was the one that left, he was never the one being left. He had pursued her since the moment he had seen her in Monte Carlo two months ago. That in itself was unusual. Normally women flocked to him, he was very rarely the pursuer, and she had led him on a merry chase as well. She had only agreed to see him last week.

"I'm afraid so." Mentally she ran through her checklist, she could see the surprise on his face but that was easy to dismiss.

"Marie if you leave now I can't promise that I will be here when you return." He used the line on her that many a woman had used on him, confident that it would work.

The woman he called Marie flicked her brown hair off her shoulder and stared at him through narrowed blue eyes. Anton was easy on the eyes, tall, of course with her height he had to be, the dark hair and dark eyes set off his tanned skin, his body was well conditioned thanks to the frequent trips he made to the gym. He was also wealthy, single, and interesting enough that he didn't bore her after a single date. In short he met her criteria for a lover, he was young, handsome, single, and dynamite in bed. None of that helped him now however, because he had just crossed a line with her that had no return.

"Anton I don't deal well with ultimatums." The words came out in her clipped British accent. "But since for the most part I have enjoyed our two week interlude, I've decided to overlook your ill-advised ultimatum." She moved closer and placed a hand on the cool silk of his shirt. "But don't pretend this meant anything more to you then it did to me, a little affair between two willing adults."

"Is that all this was?"

"Yes and thankfully all affairs run their course." She pressed a kiss to his lips and drew away quickly. "And ours has ended, so goodbye Anton."

Anton was so stunned by her words that she had almost reached the door before he spoke. "I think I lov…"

"Anton don't be trite." She never even paused. "Time to move on dear," and with that she was gone. Only to be followed by a very amused porter with her luggage.

****

~El Gatto~

"Are you okay?" Manny asked. "I'm only asking because you've been staring at the door for the last five minutes now."

"I'm fine." Francis snapped and reluctantly got out of the car. He'd seen her car in the parking lot. Even in the garish streetlights, the hot pink VW Bug was easily recognizable, she was still here. He took a deep breath trying to prepare himself for what was sure to come. "Here's what were going to do. We find Guttroal and get him out of there."

"You don't want to question him inside?"

"No." Francis reply was vehement.

"What about other employees?"

"No Guttroal and get out, if we're quick enough she'll never even know were here, I mean no one will ever know that we were here." Francis cracked his knuckles for the third time in 15 minutes and fidgeted in place. "So are you clear on what were doing?"

"Yeah." Manny eyed him warily. He had never seen Francis look ruffled before, seeing it now was making him uneasy.

"Then lets go." Francis reached for the door handle then let his hand fall away. He took a breath, made the sign of the cross, then pulled it open and disappeared into the dark.

Nerves were a catchy thing, Manny made a sign of the cross before following Francis into the smoke and the base that was El Gatto.

~*~*~

"Move the car so it has a view of the alley and the front door." Stavros ordered. There was no way that Francis would leave the building without him knowing it.

The Cabbie sighed and did as he was ordered. So much for getting rid of his fare.

****

~Airport~

"Business or pleasure miss?" Rodrigo sucked in a breath trying to make his chest expand, and his gut shrink, it never seemed to work out in quite that way, but he still tried it.

The blonde practically cooed at him and handed him her passport. "Pleasure honey," she drawled the words in her thick west Texas accent. "And if all the men here on the island look like you I'm going to have a lot of pleasure."

Rosalita nearly gagged trying to hold back her laughter. Rodrigo was a balding 50 year old weighing about 300lbs, with an extra large palate. The blonde must be smuggling something.

Rodrigo beamed and pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth to lock his dentures back in place. "Well Miss Rabbitt I can't guarantee that but I," he paused long enough to work his wedding band off his fat stubby finger, "get off in two hours."

"Really?" She reached for her passport, and her eyes lit with anticipation. "Then you better call me Jessica, and call me at my hotel when you get off."

Rodrigo goggled at her, so stunned that she had agreed that he could only stare after her as she left. Too late the knowledge hit him. "Wait Jessica, what hotel?" He yelled after her but the blonde was long gone.

Rosalita chortled in glee at the devastated look on her boss's face. Men were all the same the only way they could think was through their pants.

"That was fast even for you boss."

The woman now called Jessica paused to study the cowboy who had fallen into step beside her. She craned her neck and looked up at the dark-haired man in the beat-up cowboy hat. "Well that one was more clueless then most." Her honeyed accent was gone, and the farther out of the terminal she got, the less her walk looked like a leisurely sashay and the more it resembled a cat stalking her prey.

"You sure know how to ruin a guys vacation plans." He groused taking the bag from her resisting hand, and earning a glare in the process. As usual he smiled at her iced irritation, the dimples flashing in his cheeks.

"Cheer up Hawk, if you've had one blonde bimbo, you've had them all." Feeling no pity at all she stepped out into the night.

"That's cynical boss, what happened did the Prima Donna try to claim ownership?" He moved past her to a Land Rover that was illegally parked in front of the doors.

"He wasn't a Prima Donna," she growled before following him. "Anton was a very nice diversion."

"Anton?" He said with a jeer. "I was hoping you would have found the time to get laid before coming back here, it would put you in such a better mood." Hawk opened the car door for her and grinned at her livid expression. "Be careful now Jessica doesn't know how to fight." He warned her, recognizing the martial gleam in her brown eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she considered her options. He was the only man she worked with on a continued basis, the only one in her organization, and why she put up with him was a mystery. He was easy to look at, dark black hair that spilled over his collar, his light green eyes were set off by his tan chiseled face. His rugged 6'2" frame was made of muscles that came from real labor and not a gym. His angelic face won the women over in a flash, and his easy affable charm won over the men so they let their guard down, and that was when he struck. Most never even knew what hit them. 

She shook her head and ran a finger down his cheek. "Why Hawk," she drawled slowly. "Women of Texas don't fight they castrate."

Hawk swallowed hard and shut the door after she slid in the car. Working with her was never boring.

"So what did you find out?" She reached immediately for the radio and turned off the big band music she knew he was listening to.

"Well after your call and interruption, did I happen to mention I was in a hot tub with a little cutie and the things she said she could do with her…"

"Hawk how many times must I tell you that I don't want to hear about your conquests?" She interrupted with a snap. "Now what about the plane?"

"The client was right, it never showed in Boston, in fact it never even got to Florida. It went down about an hour and fifteen minutes after take-off."

"Damn," she drummed her fingers on her thighs. "Any survivors?"

"Well." Hank drawled taking off from the curb right before the parking police could put the ticket on his jeep. "Apparently it had been strewing debris for at least fifty miles before it finally went down. Everything that was in the cargo hold of the plane was long gone before it went down."

She has a momentary flash of an unconscious Jason Morgan strapped in a seat in the cargo hold. "Anything else?"

"There's a witness who saw a parachute." Hawk pulled a map off the dash, and tossed it to her. "It came out of the plane about 15 minutes before it went down. So while the Coast Guard are at the crash site, the parachute went down about fifty miles from there."

"Don't they know that?"

"No." He grinned and whipped around a police cruiser that was only doing 50. "This witness isn't very forthcoming."

"Good." She reached past him to turn on the dome light.

"Mm-mm," he sniffed deeply. "New perfume? The Prima Donna had good taste."

She deliberately elbowed his ribs when she leaned back against the seat, satisfied with his muttered oath, she moved on. "Where about?" She asked looking at the map.

"Near that five island chain called Devils Dream. I got a plane ready to take us to the one on the fringe, it's the only one with an airport, the others we'll have to search by boat."

"Good." She grabbed the handle in concern when he took a curve at about 30 miles over the posted limit.

"Do you think Morgan is the one who survived?"

"Of the three people on the plane, he would be my guess." She leaned back and marshaled her thoughts on what she knew of Jason Morgan. She knew almost everything one person could know about him. When she took on a bounty she was nothing if not thorough. "The only reason I took this bounty was the appeal of tracking him. Even in our circles he's very elusive."

"I know, I spent three months trying to get a line on the guy." Hawk commented.

"I have to admit finding him was even more difficult then I had thought it would be." She reached for her bag in the backseat. The bag that the customs agent had been too blinded by lust to search. "But once we did find him, catching him was pathetically easy. There was no challenge at all." She was still disappointed in that.

"I noticed that." He kept one eye on the rearview mirror when she pulled out a long barreled gun. "It was a surprise, given his reputation I was expecting it to be harder too."

"I know that reputation is what made me look forward in matching wits with him." She pulled the clip from the gun and checked the rounds. The feathers of the tranquilizer darts stood out in the dim light. "But apparently he is better than that. I have to believe that he was the one who made it out of the plane, and probably the reason it crashed. The other two don't have the survival instincts."

With a frown she held up a dart and studied it. "When we get home remind me to see Winston he must have gotten the load wrong in these darts. With someone Morgan's height and weight, this should have knocked him out for over 8 hours, more like 9, there was no reason for him to wake up mid-transport."

He could hear the excitement in her voice, and couldn't help but be drawn too it. That excitement was part of the thrill that he got every time he worked with her. "So are we going after him?"

"Of course." She put the gun back in her bag. "I don't get paid until I deliver him," she peered over at him. "Alive Hawk."

"Spoilsport." He grumbled and stepped on the gas, they had a plane to catch, the Devils Dream was waiting for them.

****

~El Gatto – Alley~

The side door burst open and Manny ran out of it so fast he couldn't stop his momentum and crashed into some boxes on the other side of it. Francis emerged after him and immediately turned to press on the door trying to close it. "Manny get off your ass and help me."

Manny got groggily to his feet.

"Get the trash bin." Francis ordered, turning around and pressing his back against the door, trying to find more traction with his feet to keep it closed. He pitched forward when someone shoved hard on the other side of the door. "Move it."

Manny hurried to the overflowing green bin and pushed on its side, shoving it towards the door. As soon as it was in range, Francis grabbed one of the bars and pulled it into position in front of the door.

"Jesus Christ Francis what the hell was that?" Manny demanded trying to suck in some much needed air.

"That was Bad Betty." Francis explained, trying to tuck in his shirt. He frowned down in surprise and pulled it out when he noticed a piece of his shirt was missing. It was jagged on the sides, it looked like someone had bit his shirt off of him.

"Bad Betty?" Manny asked, rubbing at the blood on his forehead. "Why the hell didn't you warn me about her? I would have brought in my gun, no I would have taken in my shotgun."

"I thought she might have calmed down by now." Francis said defensively.

"Francis she tried to rip your spleen out through your throat, if that is her calmed down, I don't want to see her pissed." Manny looked warily down the alley, hoping no one would appear at the front of it, trying to finish the job they had started in the bar. "What did you do to piss her off?"

"We don't have time to talk about that." Francis tried to change the subject. "Now about what Guttroal said."

"The redhead who paid him off jives with what the Webber girl said." Manny moved towards the car. "Did you date Betty? Because that would explain the hostility."

Francis ignored the comment and moved to the car. "I didn't like his description of her, it sounded familiar to me."

"Yeah, but I believe him when he says that he didn't hang around to see what she was doing. We need to find someone who was at the airport then." He jerked to a halt when a redheaded guy stumbled out of the bar and cut in front of them.

Manny peered after him then turned back to Francis. "So is Betty allergic to the outdoors? I mean why didn't she come chasing us from the front?"

Francis ignored him by focusing on the drunk guy who was trying to climb on a motorcycle. His eyes sharpened in interest when he recognized the bike. He was beside the bike before the drunk could figure out how to sling his leg over the side. "Where did you get this motorcycle?"

Ray turned bleary bloodshot eyes on the man talking to him. "Hey man."

"Whoa he's tanked." Manny waved the alcohol fumes from his face.

"Where did you get the bike?" Francis repeated.

Ray turned and looked at the bike. "I found it."

"Where did you find it?"

Ray belched. "What?"

Patience gone Francis grabbed Ray by his collar and slammed him against the wall. "Where did you get the bike?"

"Easy Francis." Manny looked around for any onlookers.

"This is Jason's bike." Francis explained. "So where did you get it?"

"The airport." Ray cried. "Damn man take it easy, the owner won't be using it again."

"What do you mean by that?" Uneasiness entered his system.

"Because the owner is dead. His plane crashed man, you can't drive if you're dead." Ray stated obviously.

Dead? Jason was dead? That couldn't be right. The words Jason and dead just didn't go together. Besides if Jason was dead what did that mean for Elizabeth?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Manny demanded angrily all humor gone.

"Dead as in corpse, as in pushing up daisies." Ray explained. "What are you drunk?"

"Look pal you don't want to get stupid with me." Manny snarled gripping Ray by the shirtfront.

"Ease off." Francis ordered and pulled a photo from his pocket. "Is this the guy who's dead?" He asked holding up a photo of Jason.

Ray squinted blearily at the photo but it kept moving on him. Finally he grabbed his head in his hands to hold it still. "Yep that's the guy I wasn't supposed to see."

"He was on the plane?"

"Yep, two guys carried him on the plane, but we weren't supposed to notice that. Gary said we were being paid to load crates and not notice things. So I tried to do that, but looking at that redhead made me see him." He put a hand over his heart. "The redhead was so stacked."

Francis pulled another picture from his pocket. "Was she on the plane too?" He demanded holding the photo of Elizabeth in front of the drunk.

Ray grabbed his head again and looked at the photo, bringing the brown haired girl into focus. "She's cute."

Manny smacked him on the head. "Was she on the plane?"

"Nope only three people were on the plane and the crates and now they're all at the bottom of the ocean." Ray began to laugh. "Wonder if they can swim."

Infuriated Francis decked him, sending Ray to the ground and into unconsciousness.

"He's drunk he might be wrong." Manny spoke quickly trying to calm Francis. "I mean I would've heard." He stopped himself with a wince.

"What?" Francis demanded.

"I caught the tail end of a news report, while I was waiting for you, it was about a plane crash that happened a few hundred miles from here." Manny explained reluctantly.

Francis still didn't want to believe it, and he wouldn't until he saw Jason's body. "Wait if Jason was snatched at the house how did his bike get to the airport?"

Manny ran a hand through his hair. "Well I heard a strange story while I was looking for information. At the time I didn't give it much thought, but now."

"What is it?"

"Apparently, there was a motorcycle that raised a little hell in town today. It sideswiped two vendor carts before careening after a black car, the person driving it was a brown haired girl.

Francis couldn't help but grin. That sounded like the Elizabeth he had once guarded. "Let's go to the airport, maybe we can find a ghost there, that knows what happened."

"A ghost?" A confused Manny asked following him to the car.

~*~*~

"Wake up." Stavros smacked the Cabbie in the back of the head. "They're leaving."

****

~Clearing AM~

Jason woke up slowly and groggily realized that he wasn't alone. He opened his eyes and saw brown hair. It took him a minute to realize he was holding Elizabeth, it seemed like one of them had moved during the night. He shifted slightly and the jacket under his head crinkled and he realized that it had been him that had moved towards her. His leg was over hers, his right arm was around her waist, and she was snug against him and still asleep.

He closed his eyes and let himself breathe in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. He had never held her like this before, and he was surprised at how well they fit together. Surprised and unnerved, because for months now he had been trying not to think about how he would like to hold her like this. He moved slowly and carefully away from her, afraid that if he lingered to long he wouldn't be able to leave her at all. He stretched and got to his feet. His right knee twinged a little in pain, and he wondered again what had happened yesterday.

He crossed to the stream and drank some water, the water was ice cold and woke him all the way up. He glanced at his watch, it was 8:00 am, he decided to let her sleep for a while longer, while he scouted around. He took a careful look around the clearing but didn't see anything that bothered him. Jason sighed and started to walk, he wouldn't go far, if she needed him he would still be in earshot.

****

~*~

Jason frowned up at the parachute, and empty harness that was hanging from a tree. It hadn't taken him long to find it, his only concern was it was the only parachute that he had found. He studied the ground and saw grooves in the soft dirt, it looked like someone, more then likely him had been dragged away from the parachute. He shifted and his knee tweaked again. At least he knew what happened to his knee now.

Part of Elizabeth's ramble from the night before came back to him. _"So then we fell out of the plane and then of course you were still unconscious so I fell away from you and hit the water." She looked at her sweater, which had shrunk. "And this was new, now it's small, all because you wouldn't wake up." _

He had scanned the area but he hadn't seen any body of water that would have been deep enough for her to hit and get drenched enough to shrink her sweater. He frowned up at the parachute again, besides if they parachuted out of a plane, how the hell had his chute opened?

__

"So I fell away from you and hit the water."

What the hell did she mean by that, she fell away from him? Concern and anger were gradually working through him along with fear. It was the fear that worried him, he wasn't used to feeling like that, especially over something that he couldn't change. It was time to wake her up and get some answers. He had only taken a step when he heard a rustling coming from his right.

Instantly alert, he bent down and pulled a switchblade from his boot, flicking it open. He had allowed himself to forget that there was a good chance they weren't alone in this place. He looked back in the direction of the clearing, he didn't want to take a chance of her waking up alone. The noise sounded again and was louder. He couldn't risk her being hurt.

Decision made Jason stepped to his right his hand gripping the knife tightly. He pushed at a branch and moved carefully in the brush trying to be as quiet as he could. About 10 yards off the path he heard the noise again directly in front of him. He shifted his grip on the knife, turning it into a slashing position and moved closer. He pushed by a branch and took another step and then everything went black. 

Quiet surrounded the bushes for another minute, before the animal life of the forest began to make noises again.

****

~Clearing~

"Jason." Elizabeth sat up with a scream. She had been falling again, and this time she knew she wasn't going to hit water. She looked around and saw the trees and realized she was on the ground. She moaned lightly and rested her head on her knees trying to control her breathing. The falling off the cliff dream suddenly had a whole new dose of reality for her.

Once she could breathe normally she opened her eyes and looked for Jason, expecting to see him asleep beside her, but he was gone. "Jason?" Her eyes searched the small clearing but he was nowhere to be found. Afraid she shot to her feet. "Jason." Her scream echoed around the clearing, stilling the sound of the birds in the trees.

Where was he? He was here wasn't he? Her eyes fell on his jacket on the ground, and she sighed in relief, he had been here. But where was he now?

"Jason." She yelled again and listened in vain for a response. 

"Don't do this to me." Her voice sounded husky to her ears, but she spoke trying to hold the fear off. What if the people who had taken Jason the first time had found them and took him while she was asleep? She knew he wouldn't leave her here alone, but he wasn't here. That had to mean…. "Jason."

Through all of the insanity of the last day she knew she would be okay as long as she kept in sight of Jason. She knew he would be okay, because she would be here for him. But now he was gone, he was gone and she was alone.

"Jason where are you?" She called out again, but no one answered her not even the birds.


	5. It's a bird, it's a dog, it's Elizabeth...

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Disclaimer: I merely claim the right to abuse specific characters.

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Babble: I'm glad you are enjoying this little action fic of mine. Please continue to let me know what you think and make suggestions if you want. I love hearing from you. HINT HINT!

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One of Those Days

Part V

****

~Clearing~

"Okay so I'm not going to panic." Elizabeth cried loudly startling some birds that were sipping at the stream enough to take flight. "I am going to be a calm and rational person and I'm not going to panic."

She ran a hand through her flyaway curls and began to pace. "I would have heard it if someone had come here and taken Jason away. He's so big that it would have taken at least two guys to carry him out of here." After all her own muscles were aching from dragging him around the day before.

"Besides they would have taken me too. They wouldn't have left me behind so I could follow them again. I mean really, look at what happened, the last time they did that. I got him away from them." She ignored the little voice in her head that told her that, that was due more to luck than any skill on her part.

"So they would have taken me as well as Jason. They wouldn't have just left me here," her eyes darted to the right and saw nothing but woods. "In the middle of nowhere," they moved to the left and saw the same. "All by myself." She hesitated and then whispered, "Would they?"

She sank to her knees in the still damp grass of the early morning. "So much for not panicking. I rationalized myself right into this state." Her stomach growled loudly drawing her attention away from her less than happy thoughts. "Oh shut up."

__

"Shut up Jason, I'm still talking here."

Her hand went to her mouth, she had never told Jason to shut up, but for some reason that sure felt like a memory to her. Elizabeth rubbed hard at her forehead trying to dispel the worry and the tiredness she still felt and searched for an elusive memory.

"Oh god."

She gasped in dismay when the image of Jason's shocked face arrived first in her mind, close behind it were the words that had caused his expression. Her words to be exact, to be more exact her words about a fucking redhead. "This day keeps getting better and better."

How could she have gone off on him like that? She flopped back on the ground to study the sky. He had only wanted to know what had happened and she had let him have it right between the eyes, and now he was gone.

Elizabeth felt tears prick the back of her eyes and quickly banished them, crying wasn't going to help her one bit. She knew that Jason was still hurt because of what had happened between them months ago. And she had no doubt surprised him by going off on him last night. But there was one thing she knew without a doubt. Jason would never voluntarily leave her here alone. Not only wasn't he that type of man, she also knew that he still cared about her, maybe not as much as he once had, but he still cared.

But Jason was still gone and she **was** here alone. She was alone and she was tired of that. She didn't want to be the only one in this situation anymore. Technically she had been with Jason, but an unconscious Jason just wasn't the same thing. She picked up the jacket and buried her face in the soft leather it still smelled like him. She wanted him to come back and help her out of this mess. Even if he was angry with her, she just wanted him back.

After awhile she raised her head and worried her lip, before beginning to reason aloud again. "The last word I would ever use to describe Jason is typical. But in the end he is still a man, and no matter how atypical he is, there are some universal truths about men." She remembered all the times that she had went riding with Jason, or had just sat and talked with him. She had his attention that much was true. But there was a part of him that had always been alert, in case trouble should arise. She had never asked him about it, but she had seen the way his eyes would sweep an area before he let his guard down. The primal male at its best, searching for danger.

"So since I wouldn't tell him what happened yesterday, he probably felt the need to find out on his own." She set the jacket to the side and got to her feet. "That means he probably decided to look around when he woke up." The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. Making sure that he knew every inch of their surroundings was exactly something Jason would do, especially if he was worried for her safety.

"So he either got lost, or went so far that he can't hear me when I call for him." She headed for the edge of the clearing and nearly went down when she tripped over her bootlace. She righted herself and hurried on. She could stay here and wait for him to return, or she could go looking for him. "I need your quarter again Jason." She muttered flashing briefly on a quarter in the jewelry box at the studio.

Elizabeth frowned and bent down to lace her boot up, before she could do anymore damage to herself. "I'm right." She practically squealed in delight when she saw the distinct outline of a boot print in the loose dirt in front of her. She looked beyond it and saw the print of a right boot a giant step away, at least for her, but a normal step length for Jason.

"He did walk out on his own. Rational thinking is such a good thing." She glanced back at the clearing and sucked in her lip again while she debated. If he came back and she wasn't here he was going to be worried, and pissed. Her stomach growled again and she turned back towards the woods. She wouldn't go that far, she'd just scout around.

Elizabeth looked down at the ground and began to follow his trail, taking a step and a half for every one of his. A giggle ripped out of her, sending a squirrel scampering for cover. "Yesterday I was a bird and today I'm a dog. God what's next?"

****

~Airport~

"So what type of ghost are we looking for? One like Casper, or one like Bruce Willis?" Manny was getting tired of looking at an empty terminal. They had been looking at the terminal for hours now, and it was getting pretty old. The first strands of dawn were breaking and the dark of the night was fading into the gloom of an early morning.

"You'll see when I find one." Francis replied shortly, keeping his eyes locked on the hangar.

"Okie dokie." It was the same response he had been given every time he asked. He began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel again. He hated waiting, and waiting with Francis while he was in this mood wasn't real entertaining. He knew that what the drunk had told them had shaken Francis badly. Hell it had shaken him. Jason seemed indestructible.

"Stop that." Francis hissed.

"What?" Manny looked over in question, "oh." He stopped drumming his fingers. He needed to focus Francis on something else. Of all the people he worked with, he felt he owed Francis the most. Francis had helped his sister and himself relocate to NY, he had brought him into the organization. Francis had even taken a bullet for him that would have no doubt ended his life. He needed to help him out now.

Manny unconsciously began to hum while he tried to think of how he could distract Francis. He was almost willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of letting Francis pound on him, if it would help him. To do that all he had to do was annoy Francis.

Francis shifted on the seat and shot him a glare in warning.

Annoying Francis had become a pastime to him, so it wouldn't take much, and besides he had new ammunition now. "So did you ask out her sister while you were still dating her? Is that why she's so mad?"

"What?"

"Bad Betty. Did you try to date her sister at the same time? Is that why she wants to maim you?"

Francis ignored the question. There was no way in hell that he was going to tell Manny about Betty, he would rather face her again then give him that information. Was that movement by the crates?

"No huh?" Manny began to drum his fingers while he thought some more. "I know a pet. She wanted you to take care of her pet and something happened to it. That's it isn't it? Because I know how women can get attached to their pets. My ex Christa had a rabbit. The ugliest little sucker you ever saw. The little bugger's hair was falling out, leaving great bald spots everywhere." He shuddered at the memory. "Anyway she went out of town, and brought the bunny to my place to take care of while she was gone."

"Manny."

"I think she forgot about Bubbles. Heck I forgot about Bubbles when I was around Christa." Manny ignored Francis' glare. "Christa just had that ability that women seem to have, that makes it hard for a man to think around them. I think it was her size too small sweater." 

Manny reflected on that image for a minute before hurrying on again. "I do think that Christa blew the whole thing out of proportion though, women have a tendency to do that. I mean Bubbles was only doing what she always did. What she had been doing for years, what was ingrained in her as a hunter. It wasn't her fault that the bunny was pet, she just thought it was lun…"

"Manny." Fed up Francis turned on him. "The last thing I want to hear about is Bubbles. Have you ever realized that the reason you don't get dates anymore is because of Bubbles? That the reason we never play cards anymore at your place is because of Bubbles? That Bubbles is worse than anything Sorel ever tried to do to you?"

Manny hid his grin while Francis went off on him. At least now Francis wasn't thinking about the possibility of Jason or Elizabeth being dead, so he had done his job.

"Bubbles, what the hell kind of name is Bubbles?" Francis grumbled turning back to the window. "I'm stuck in a car with the idiot after seeing Betty and he wants to talk to me about Bubbles."

Manny let him grumble for a few more minutes, when he finally wound down, he decided to let another one fly. "So it wasn't a pet, and it wasn't a sister. Did you ask out her brother?"

Francis was out of the car and halfway to the fence surrounding the terminal before Manny even made it out of the car. "What's going on?" He pulled out his gun and trailed Francis.

"I've found the ghost." Francis climbed the fence and took off for a set of barrels about 15 yards away. "Cut off the retreat." He pointed to a set of crates that were about 20 feet beyond that.

Wondering about Francis' sanity, Manny hurried to comply with the order. His hand tightened on the gun when Francis disappeared behind the barrels and the sound of curses and a fight reached him.

"Hold still you little shit." Francis' muffled oaths filled the air.

This ghost thing was sure a feisty one, Manny thought when another colorful curse of Francis split the air. His musings were cut off when a slight figure in black emerged from behind the barrels and made a beeline straight for him.

"Hold it." Manny ordered, brandishing the gun. But the figure ignored the command and kept charging him. At the last second Manny dropped the gun and braced for impact. The hit knocked him from his feet and back into the crates. The figure that had hit him, immediately began to squirm trying to break free.

"Ouch." He yelled when he felt teeth on his arm. Infuriated he brought up his fist and pounded on the lump that he thought was the head. He hit it again and again until the squirming stopped.

"Good." An out of breath and bleeding Francis gasped and bent over at the waist. "You caught her."

"Her?" Manny pushed the slight figure from him and it rolled over exposing the painted white face of a girl, with black garish smudges surrounding her eyes. "The ghost is a girl?"

"This one is." Francis noted. "You better grab an arm, she's going to be pissed when she wakes up."

Manny frowned and took an arm, studying the girl's hand while he did so. Her hand was unnaturally white, not a speck of color on it, except for the jet-black fingernails. She was probably 5'0" and if she weighed a 100 lbs he would be surprised. But damn was she strong. He looked at his arm and wasn't surprised to see blood coming from where he had been bitten. What did surprise him was how the bite mark looked to him. "Francis I thought you said we were catching a ghost."

"I did that's what they're called." Francis kept a finger on her pulse, waiting for it to speed up to signal her wakefulness.

"They why the hell do I have bite marks that look like they were made from the fangs of a vampire?" Manny held out his arm.

****

~Warehouse~

Sonny sipped at his coffee and tried to focus on the latest crop report about cocoa beans. But after reading the same line for the third time he knew it was no use. On a disgusted sigh he closed the folder and slammed away from the desk, sending the chair into the wall with a decided thud. It was 7:06 am and he still hadn't heard a thing about Jason or Elizabeth.

At the thud Johnny stuck his head in the door, and reluctantly entered the room when Sonny waved him in. "Problems?"

"Where the hell is Benny with the information I need?" Sonny asked. Impatience was all but shimmering in the air around him.

"He's waiting for confirmation." Johnny's reply was monotone and the same reply he had given his boss every five minutes for the last hour.

Sonny narrowed his eyes at Johnny but whatever he was going to say was cutoff when his cell phone began to ring. He practically leaped to the desk and opened it up. "Hello?"

__

"Boss I got some news for you."

"What do you know Francis?" Sonny demanded.

__

"We found the airport Elizabeth was talking about. Apparently an old DC-10 was used. I got confirmation that an unconscious Jason was onboard along with a pilot and one hired muscle. The woman who snatched him left before takeoff. I also got it from another source that Elizabeth snuck in a crate and was placed onboard the plane." He shot a glare at Manny when he let out a snort. Manny tapped a bandage on his arm and shook his head. Francis ignored the disbelief, Manny had never spent time around Elizabeth he didn't know what she was capable of.

"She got on the plane?" Sonny was both relieved and worried. If she hadn't got on the plane that meant she had disappeared. The fact that she had gotten on the plane voluntarily was good, at least she wasn't in some new danger. However the danger she was in was enough to worry him.

__

"Yes." Francis stepped away from a glaring Manny.

"So we need to find out where the plane landed and get our people there." Resolve was coursing through him again. "So where did it land?"

__

"It didn't."

"What do you mean?"

__

Francis sighed and delivered the bad news. "The plane went down a couple hundred miles off the coast."

Sonny sank limply in a chair. The image of the last time he had seen Jason's face and the quick dismissal he had given him, hit him and he felt ill. "It crashed?"

Johnny jolted at those words. His line of work was definitely a risky one, but Jason always had this air of indestructibility around him that made it impossible to think of him dying. He smothered a groan when another thought occurred to him. Sonny said Elizabeth was on the plane too, that meant that she was dead as well.

"Are you sure he was on the plane?" Sonny asked hoarsely.

__

"Yes he was on it. I found a reluctant witness who saw a parachute come out of the plane before it crashed." Francis tried to give his boss the same hope he was clinging to. "Apparently something went wrong on the plane. It was spilling its cargo for miles before the engine began to sputter."

"So there was at least one survivor?" Sonny perked up at that and hope surged through him, followed almost immediately by guilt. "Are you sure she was on the plane?"

__

"The source isn't 100% reliable," Francis conceded. "But my gut tells me that she was. You know her boss. Despite the way it was the last time he was in town, if Jason was in trouble you wouldn't be able to get her away from him."

"I know." Sonny moved slowly to the window and stared blindly at the water. "You need to find the survivor.

__

"I've already chartered a seaplane to take us to the island chain near where the parachute was spotted. It's a set of islands called the Devil's Dream." He could almost feel the weight of the silence on the other end of the line. "I will find out who it was."

"Good." Sonny's voice was hoarse as he fought back the emotion.

__

"There's more and I don't like it. We're not the only one tracking the survivor." Francis came up short before running into a tall dark-haired man with a goatee. He waited until the man moved on to another seaplane tied up on the dock before speaking. "There was a guy here before us, who spoke to the same witness and encouraged him not to tell the authorities what he saw."

"I don't like that." 

__

"It gets worse, it seems that the guy came back later on with a woman and they chartered a plane to take them to the Devil's Dream," he glanced at his watch. "By the time we get there, they will still have over a three hour head start on us."

"Was it the redhead?"

__

"No she was a blonde, but other then that her description is the same. Look boss I got to go. I'll call and report as I go." Francis began to head for the seaplane that Manny had longed disappeared inside of. His eyes automatically flicked to the other seaplane that was getting ready to leave and the dark-haired man at the controls.

"Francis." Sonny's voice was cold. "You're first priority is finding Jason and Elizabeth. Then and only then do you deal with their trackers."

__

"Will do." Francis acknowledged and closed the phone. "Let's get this bucket of bolts airborne."

Sonny frowned at the phone. The demons that were always present in his mind, in his memory, were begging for release, but he battled them back. "Johnny I want to see Benny now."

Johnny was out the door before Sonny had even finished.

Sonny rubbed a hand wearily over his face. Jason or Elizabeth. Jason or Elizabeth. If only one of them survived how could he ever explain it to the other one. Elizabeth was someone he had vowed to protect. While Jason was someone he needed in his life more then he needed his right arm. Jason or Elizabeth. Jason or Elizabeth. How could he hope for one to be alive if it meant the other one was dead?

****

~Woods~

Elizabeth stared up at the parachute and then glanced around looking in vain for a blonde head. He had made it this far that much was obvious from the prints. And since his prints went in several directions around here, he had obviously spent a lot of time looking up at the tree. She swallowed hard remembering the nasty thump he'd made when he hit the ground. Hopefully he would think he fell out of the harness on his own. 

"Jason." Her call echoed around the trees. She was debating on whether or not to head back to the clearing when a noise to her right caught her attention. "Jason?" She listened for his reply or the noise to repeat itself. But only silence met her ears. She sighed and studied the ground again, she was now at an area that had grass so she couldn't tell which way he had went.

A faint noise reached her ears and she looked to the right again. There was definitely something in the bushes over there. "Jason I'm about to do something I think you'll hate." She began conversationally. "I'm about to take an unnecessary risk with my life, so this is your cue to come out and tell me not to do that."

Elizabeth looked around hopefully, but Jason didn't magically appear. With a groan of reluctance she moved off the path and towards the deep brush that the noises were originating from. She kept her eyes on the ground not wanting to go flying forward again. She moved the branches out of the way and disappeared into the brush.

"Ouch." She cried loudly and brought her hand up to her mouth to suck at a cut. "Damn thorns."

"Elizabeth."

Her eyes went wide and she looked around searching for Jason when the sound of her name reached her ears. "Jason where are you?"

"Over here." Jason called back.

Excited to have finally found him she began to hurry in the direction of his voice. Her eyes were whipping around trying to find him. "Keep talking."

"You're getting closer, but watch your step." He warned her a second too late.

She tripped over a hidden rope and pitched forward hitting the ground hard. She stopped her forward momentum by holding onto a stump.

Jason brushed the dirt from his eyes and focused on her head which had appeared over the edge of the pit he was standing in.

"Thank god." She couldn't remember ever feeling so relieved as she was now, looking down into his upturned face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." God it was so good to see her. "I couldn't stop myself when I fell, and wound up down here."

"Can't you climb out?" She asked before she really studied where he really was. He was standing in a pit, his head was about 6 feet from the edge. The pit was probably 10 feet long and 5 feet wide, and it was definitely deep.

"No the sides are too smooth there's nothing to grip." Jason was feeling unusually frustrated. He had been in this pit for hours now. "I've been waiting for you to wake up."

Elizabeth bristled slightly at his rebuke but decided to let it slide. "I'll try to find something that we can use to get you out of there."

"Great," he muttered and her head disappeared from view only to pop back in view a second later.

"Don't go anywhere." She said with a smile.

"Cute Elizabeth," Jason grumbled. "Do you think you can save the jokes until I'm out of here."

Irritation flashed again and she gamely tried to battle it back. "I'm looking."

Jason leaned against the wall and waited. He was close to the edge. He hadn't felt this frustrated in months not since, he frowned, not since the last time he had been around Elizabeth. This frustration was different though, it was born out of an unusual sense of helplessness, but it still brought back bitter memories.

"Here." Elizabeth called before tossing a long vine over the side and hitting him in the head. "Grab a hold of this and climb up it."

Jason rubbed at his head and looked dubiously at the vine. "And what is going to be at the other end?" He asked jerking on a length of the vine to test its strength.

"I will." She jolted forward when he yanked again.

"That won't work. You're not strong enough to pull me out of here, or to support me as I climb up. You need to find something else." Jason ordered shortly.

"Yes master." That time the irritation couldn't be held back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What are you doing in this pit in the first place Jason?" Elizabeth demanded. "You know I'm busting my butt trying to get you out of this mess, so there is no need to get snotty with me. It's not my fault you're in there."

He pinched his nose wearily. "Just find something to tie it onto please."

"Good idea." Elizabeth glanced around the pit and saw an old tree right near the edge towards the right. "I found a tree." She hurriedly crossed to it and began to tie the vine off. "You know Jason it's strange. In Port Charles it always seems like you're in control of every situation. But down here your not. Okay it's ready."

Jason wisely bit back his retort and began to climb up the vine.

"It's lucky for you that I've been here to help you out of these messes that you've gotten yourself in."

He scowled at that remark and moved farther up the vine. He reached up higher on the vine and it snapped sending him plunging back down to the earth.

"Jason are you okay?"

Jason closed his eyes and forced the air back in his lungs. "Yeah." He got slowly to his feet. The frustration, tiredness, hunger and anger that had been building inside of him built until he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Jesus Elizabeth are you trying to kill me?"

Stunned she could only stare down at him.

"Do you think you can find something stronger next time?" He asked acidly.

"You think you can lose some weight?" Elizabeth retorted. "Because after dragging your ass around for the last day let me tell you, you can stand to lose some weight."

"I'm not fat." He cried.

"No your solid and your yelling at me and I don't know why. You're the one who decided to go exploring like some Daniel Boone here not me."

"And why is that Elizabeth?" Jason fired back hotly. "Because when I asked you to tell me where we were and what happened. And all you could say was shut up Jason."

Elizabeth flushed at that but was angry enough herself to respond. "Well you were the one who had been asleep for hours yesterday not me. So forgive me for being tired."

"Tired? Hell." Jason snorted. "You weren't tired you were in some snit because I spoke to another woman. Let's see what did you accuse me of? I remember now, flirting with a fucking redhead."

Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise as she recalled accusing him of that. "She's the reason we're…"

"Be quiet Elizabeth it's my turn to talk and yours to listen. So I talked to another woman so what? Am I suddenly not allowed to talk to another woman when I'm around you?"

"Jason." Elizabeth shot to her feet and tried to cut him off.

"You're allowed to jerk me around for weeks while you waffled between Lucky and me, but you get mad at me if I talk to another woman." He couldn't seem to stop talking even though he knew his words were cruel. "Did I make a mistake in talking to her? Yes. But you know what it was my choice to make, and unlike you I make choices."

"Jason shut up…" She tried to cut him off again.

"Don't tell me that," incensed he broke in. "I'm not finished."

"Jason," Elizabeth screamed in frustration and pointed beyond him. "There's a snake."

"What?" His retort trailed off when he heard a hiss coming from right behind him, followed by the telltale sound of a rattle. "Oh man."


	6. So move your ass

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Disclaimer: I claim the right to abuse. In fact I have Jason handcuffed to my bed at the moment, it's a pity I'm at work.

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Thanks: My sincere thanks to all who are reading this, and especially to those who take the time to reply, I love hearing from you and what you think.

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Question: I have a general question for readers and author's alike. This board will be undergoing a change on 10/12/02 in the types of stories they allow here. Granted a love scene hasn't been an issue in this fic, and who knows if it will become one. But I do have other stories on this board that ruling does effect and am unsure what to do as a response. 

I hate to edit my stories, removing or altering the chapters I've previously written or develop them in a different way, because that can change the story I'm creating. I only include love scenes if they move the story along, I don't include them just to have them.

So I guess I'm wanting your opinion, other writer's and readers alike over what you think should happen. Whether pulling stories entirely or editing the content to fit the board, e-mailing certain chapters. Neither option is overly appealing, but it's about all I can see to do. Granted this ruling doesn't effect this story yet, and it may not ever who knows? But my other stories like _What If…_, _Bikes, Cars, and Submarines, _and _Dance With Me_ do apply.

So if you have a minute let me know your opinions. Thanks

Stephanie

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One of Those Days

Part VI

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~Snake Pit~

"Don't move Jason. Don't even breathe." Elizabeth hissed the words the same time the rattlesnake hissed behind him.

"I think I know that Elizabeth." Jason kept his voice calm. "How far away is the snake?"

"Uh," god she was horrible at gauging distances. "Probably a little over two arm lengths."

"Mine or yours?"

"What?" She cried in confusion.

"My arms or yours?" He kept his voice calm, hoping she would pick up on that.

"Yours." Elizabeth tore her eyes away from him and searched the area around her, desperately searching for something, anything that she could use to get him out of the pit.

But there was nothing.

Jason turned his head slowly, very slowly, and tilted it downwards searching for the snake. The rattle gave its position away even though its coppery skin helped it blend into the dirt and leaves surrounding it. It was coiled slightly, its head raised a little higher then the rest of it's body, almost as if it was poising itself getting ready to strike.

He swallowed hard and turned away. The snake definitely hadn't been in the pit with him this whole time. He would have noticed it. So it must have come out of one of the many holes that were in the side of the walls. He was uneasy because where there was one snake there were usually more. And there were a lot of holes in the dirt walls that they could come out of.

A lot.

Elizabeth had found another vine, this one still attached to a tree, and was tugging on it hoping it would reach the pit and Jason. She yanked hard to test its strength and fell back on her butt with a slam when it snapped. The impact stole her breath, but she quickly got up to try again.

Her eyes darted back to the pit to check on Jason. Was it her imagination or was the snake closer than it had been a few minutes before? She had to get him out of there. Her eye fell on a large flat rock a few feet away. Maybe she could throw the rock and flatten the snake. "And maybe when you miss the snake will be so pissed that it will take a hunk out of Jason in retaliation."

"What?"

"Nothing." Why couldn't they have crashed in the middle of a jungle? There they had thick strong vines that would support people. All you had to do was look at Tarzan or George of the Jungle and you could see that. "Wonderful Jason may die and you're thinking about B-movies."

"Elizabeth can you come to the edge? I want to see you." Jason called out softly.

She immediately dropped to her knees beside the opening. "What?"

"Don't cry please." He requested when he saw the tears on her face.

Elizabeth touched her face in surprise. She hadn't even been aware that she was crying. "Do you have a plan to get out?"

"No." He heard the rattle behind him. "I have a knife. I think I'll have to use that."

"A knife against a snake? Are you nuts?" Elizabeth demanded.

"We don't have a choice." His voice was quiet but that didn't lessen the firmness of it. "But first I need you to go back to the clearing for awhile."

Her eyes widened in disbelief and for a second all she could do was sputter. "Y-you want me to leave you here, alone, with a snake?"

"It's for the best." He knew he would more than likely get bit and he didn't want her to see that. He didn't want her to watch him die.

"Unbelievable." She surged to her feet, her voice rising in anger. "What? Do you think that I'm too delicate? That I won't be able to handle what happens when you foolishly attack a snake with a knife?"

"Elizabeth." Jason tried to interrupt.

"How many times have I told you that I'm not some precious little doll that needs to be wrapped in cotton and protected?" She looked at the tree beside her, the first glimmer of an idea coming to her. "I'm strong Jason. A lot stronger then you seem to give me credit for. Heck stronger then I give myself credit for." She gripped the tree with one arm and squatted beside it. "Jason I want you to move slowly, very slowly, towards this wall."

"What are you doing?" He didn't like the way she was talking. Nerves entered his system. Nerves that had nothing to do with the snake.

"I'm going to get you out of there. You are not allowed to die on me." She looked down at him, her eyes filled with determination. "So move."

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Jason in the last 2 days I've taken a drug that could have killed me. I've chased kidnappers, I've fired a gun, I have even fought with a man. I've jumped out of a plane with no parachute, and I landed hard enough in water that I swear I knocked some fillings loose. I hurt in places I didn't even know I had and I am not about to let all of my work fall apart because of some damn snake." She sucked in a breath and looped her other arm around the tree until her hands clasped. "So…move…your…ass."

Jason filed her words away for future reference. The words themselves were easy to ignore at the moment, because her actions were beginning to scare the hell out of him. "What are you up too?" Forgetting himself for a minute he inched forward and the rattle sounded again, longer and closer, than ever before.

"It's simple Jason and really quite logical." She tightened her hands and took a breath to prepare herself. "I'm going to swing my legs over the edge and hold on to this tree. Then you will grab a hold of me and climb up and out of the pit."

"No." Fear for her made him move and he heard the snake slither closer behind him.

"Yes." Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly in prayer. "Relax Jason you'll be the second person to use my body as a ladder in a day, only this time I won't kick."

"Don't."

But it was too late, he saw her legs swing clear of the ground and she slid down the wall, until the only thing keeping her from the ground of the pit were her arms that were wrapped around the base of the small tree. "Pull yourself up. Now."

Elizabeth muscles were already taut, because of her exertions of the day before and perspiration formed on her brow. "I can't," she managed to say finally. "At the moment I'm not strong enough. You'll have to pull me up after you get up there."

Jason risked a glance back at the snake that had indeed moved closer. It was on a long branch now, it's head moving from him to Elizabeth.

"Go now Jason while I still have the strength or we'll both be stuck down here." Elizabeth warned him.

As soon as she spoke the snake locked on Elizabeth and Jason moved. The toe of his boot caught the edge of the branch and he flipped it kicking both it and the snake backward into the wall. He didn't wait to see where the snake landed, he was at her back instantly, his hands reaching up to her.

Elizabeth swallowed a groan when she felt his hands on her waist. She couldn't stop the next one when his hands moved up, found her shoulders, and took his full weight on her tired arms, when his feet left the ground. Her arms seemed to stretch and her hands wanted to fly apart but she held on, knowing if she let go they would both die. She could feel his breath on her neck as he continued to scramble up her body and she couldn't hold back the scream of pain any longer. Her hands and arms were slick with sweat from the exertion and she began to shake, but still she held on.

It felt like hours, and the strain was getting to her. She thought she would die if she had to hold on any longer, and then the weight was gone. She forced an eye open and blinked the sting away when sweat got in her eyes, and focused on Jason who was on the ground above her.

He was safe.

Her smile was weak and she heard the angry hiss of the snake at the same time her strength finally fled, her hands slipped free and she began to fall.

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~Puddle Jumper~

"You ready to tell me more about these ghosts? I think I have a right to know. After all we are taking the word of one of them and flying in this rattletrap."

Francis glanced at his watch a little amazed that Manny had waited this long before questioning him. He glanced to the pilot, but with the headphones the man had on, he knew he couldn't hear them. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters how did you know where to find her? And what the hell is a ghost?"

"Ghosts are extreme Meth junkies. They are hooked that much is obvious, but they make no attempt to exist in society. They've dropped off of the human life radar, and exist in their own subculture. Ghosts rarely come out during the day. They wear dark clothing, paint their face and hands white, no color at all. They always have shades on, anything bright bothers their eyes. They live only for the drugs." Francis kept his eye on the blue skyline visible out the window.

"Okay." Manny could see that, but there had to be more to it than that. "But how did you know to find them at the airport?"

Francis sighed knowing Manny wouldn't let it go until he knew it all. "I told you that they hide during the day. They don't like sunlight, but that doesn't mean their not awake, and watching. They love to watch. They like cool, dark places to sleep, and live in. That old airport was used as a military base for a while in WWII. There are a series of tunnels below ground. A whole city lives under there. A city with a lot of eyes."

Manny was, to put it bluntly, fascinated. "How come I've never seen them then?"

"You have," Francis focused on him. "At night when you get off a plane, how many times do you get stopped by beggars before you hit the car?"

"A lot."

"Right and normally, because of who we are, and why were here, I bet you just stuff some money at them, without even looking and hurry on. You don't want draw attention to yourself so you pay and move."

Manny couldn't even begin to count how many times he had done just that. One of Sonny Corinthos' rules was never, ever draw attention to yourself. Since he had cut his teeth as a courier, on these milk runs he had learned very early on that if you gave the beggars money they got out of your way quicker.

"Their smart enough to know which people to hit and which to ignore. They know who will pay and who will try to find a cop. They get the money for drugs, and then they disappear, until the next night. But they're always around."

Manny eyed the bandage on his arm with new eyes. "Damn man, besides the Tetanus shot I'm going to need to be tested for things aren't I?"

Francis nodded. "Sorry I should have warned you. They don't like to be cornered, especially that close to daylight. If we had the time we could have waited for night and questioned one another way, but we were pressed for time. I knew are only hope was to snag one before they disappeared into their hide below ground. You don't want to hunt for a ghost below ground if you can help it."

"How do you know so much about these ghosts?"

Francis popped his knuckles in a nervous habit that he had been trying to break. He'd known that question was coming, he just didn't know if he wanted Manny to know what only 4 other people knew. He had boxed himself in on this one.

"Francis?"

"I know because I was a ghost once. A ghost on that island."

Manny couldn't have been any more surprised if Francis had suddenly announced he was dating Julia Roberts. "You were a Meth head?" He shook his head in denial even as he asked the question.

"I was 10 and alone. It's easy to fall when your 10." Francis kept his tone bland like telling Manny this didn't bother him, but he couldn't look at him. "I never knew my dad. Hell I don't think my mother knew who my dad was. She O'D when I was 8. I found her, I found her stash and hit the streets. When no one gives a rat's ass about you, you don't care yourself. I was hooked by age 9. All I cared about was the next score, the next high. I stole, panhandled, ran numbers for bookies, anything to get more. If you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to get it."

He ran a rigid hand through his hair. "Soon you wake up only for the next high. You get high, and you want to be higher. And then you crash and you want to die, but instead you start all over again. You become something else, something less then a person, and you don't even care." He rubbed his hands on his jeans. Talking about it always made him feel dirty, and he knew that feeling would be with him for weeks. "You know why they call us ghosts?"

Manny didn't even try to answer, he didn't think Francis would have heard him, if he did.

"Because people, the good people of the world, they don't see you. They walk around you, by you, sometimes even through you, but they never see you. To them you're not even human anymore. You're a ghost." Francis focused on the younger man and saw the shock reflected on his face and turned away with a sigh.

Manny studied the sandy haired man next to him with new eyes. Francis had always seemed so smart. In fact of all the guards, and most of the people in the organization he was the smartest of them all. Not only street smart, but book smart, rumor had it he had even been a cop once. It was hard for him to believe that the man beside him used to be a 10-year-old drug addict.

It was hard but he could see it. Francis' eyes had, at times, seemed so much older then they should be. The intensely private man had more secrets then most and they were secrets he should have been allowed to keep. He saw the proud line of Francis' shoulders as he looked out the window and made a promise to himself that Francis would never regret trusting him with his secret.

"How did you get out?" Manny asked when he could.

"One person looked past the clothes, the drugs, the paint, and saw the boy. And he was stubborn enough, mean enough, and dumb enough that he kept coming back and trying with me," he shook his head in wonder. "It took a long time, but eventually I began to change."

"Is that why you helped me?"

"Maybe," Francis shrugged. "Maybe I saw parts of myself in you when I caught you trying to steal my wallet. But you were never really like me Manny. You had love in your life. Your sister loved you then, loves you now, you would have never gotten lost like I did because of that love."

The pilot turned around and pulled the headphones from his ears. "We're heading in for landing."

Francis nodded and tightened his seatbelt. He knew things would be different between him and Manny from now on. Manny's hero worship of him had felt good, but now he knew that would be gone, and maybe that was for the best. He definitely wasn't someone to be looked up too. But he still felt the loss. He hoped Manny wouldn't say anything to the others, but he wouldn't ask him not too.

If there had been any other way to find out the information they needed without tracking a ghost he would have done it. But Elizabeth and Jason were more important then his shameful memories of the past. Hell he would take out a front-page ad in the _Port Charles Herald_, if it meant finding them alive.

"Francis I have one more question."

Manny's statement drew him from his thoughts and he braced himself. "What?"

"Did you call out another woman's name during sex with Bad Betty? Is that why she is so pissed?"

Francis looked over at him in surprise, searching his friend's face for disgust or disappointment. But he found none.

Manny grinned wickedly. "I know you called out a man's name during sex."

Francis laughed in relief. Maybe it would be okay.

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~Snake Pit~

"No!" Jason yelled and grabbed for her, catching her wrist before she could slip out of reach.

Elizabeth cried out as her momentum jerked to a stop. Her head was focused on the ground, on the snake that was just a few feet below where she was hanging.

"I'm going to swing you. Kick with your legs and reach for the ledge." Jason ordered as he began to move her.

She saved her breath and just tried to obey.

Jason felt like everything was moving in slow motion, and that was taking far too long. He saw the snake hike its body up to strike, at the same time Elizabeth kicked with her leg seeking the edge. The next few seconds he knew would never leave him. He yanked hard on her arm, the same time the snake jumped for her. Elizabeth's body stiffened and she screamed the same time he pulled her free of the pit and they began to roll away from it.

They rolled to a stop several feet away. Elizabeth was pinned underneath him and for a second all he could do was rest on her in relief. But then he remembered her scream, he remembered the snake striking out at her, but most of all he remembered the way her body had snapped to alert.

He sat up his hands pulling on her clothes, his eyes searching her skin trying to find where the snake had bit her. He knew he was speaking but he didn't know what he was saying. He pulled on her pants near her ankles looking for the telling holes of fangs.

"Jason." Elizabeth sat up and touched his face.

"Where?" Knowledge crashed into him and driven by fear he shook her shoulders. "Where did it get you?"

"It didn't Jason, it just hit my foot." Elizabeth cried tears spilling from her eyes.

He drew back. "Which foot?"

"My right," she fell back slightly when he pulled it up searching for damage. "Jason it didn't bite me, it just hit my foot the same time you pulled me up."

He focused on her and she could see the fear in his eyes. "You screamed."

"It scared me." She dashed at the tears on her cheeks. "But you got me out."

"Are you sure?"

"It didn't get me Jason" She clutched his hand as the reaction tremors of relief set in.

"Jesus Elizabeth," he enveloped her in his arms. Her shaking was catchy. Soon he felt it too. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. The fear and tension drained away leaving only adrenaline and anger.

Her arms hurt, but she wrapped them around him anyway, trying to get closer. If she could she'd crawl inside of him. Nothing or no one had ever felt more solid and alive to her at that moment. She tried to burrow closer and suddenly he was gone.

"Don't you ever do that to me again." He ordered shaking her again, this time in anger. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Anger was as catchy as nerves and she quickly fired back. "I was saving your life."

"Don't you ever risk your life to save mine. I'm not worth that. So don't ever do that again." Now that he knew she was safe anger over her actions had him by the throat.

"Why not? You'd do it for me." Elizabeth jerked back so his hands fell from her shoulders and shoved at his chest. "Get off me."

Jason refused to move, and remained half-sitting on her legs. "That's different."

"Why?" She hissed. "Because you're a man?" She demanded scornfully. "I told you once that I wouldn't walk away from you if you were in danger. I meant that." She pushed on his chest again, but she may as well have been pushing concrete. "Though right now I don't know why I felt like I had to save you. You are such an…a…a…an idiot." She finished finally shaking again but in anger instead of relief.

He caught her hands and pinned them behind her back, bringing her chest into contact with his own. She tried to pull away but couldn't, her eyes were shooting sparks at him but he ignored that. "We're fine." He whispered in her hair when she twisted her face away from him.

The tears spilled from her lashes and he felt them on his throat. He shouldn't have yelled at her. Not right then, it was too soon. She stopped struggling to get away, he let go of her hands and she immediately wrapped her arms around him. He tightened his hold on her. "It's okay Elizabeth."

He pulled on the back of her head forcing her to look at him and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "I'm sorry I yelled." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry," he trailed his lips over her still damp cheeks.

His mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own and brushed over hers. The first pass, the touch was so light he could barely feel it. The second pass over her lips was a little longer, and he could feel the slight quiver of her lips under his. He shifted and settled more fully on her and on the third pass of her lips his mouth stayed there to claim.

He didn't give her the opportunity to refuse the kiss, in that instant he just conquered. The fear of the last few minutes rolled out of him and for the moment his restraint was gone, and he finally allowed himself to take what he wanted.

And he wanted Elizabeth.

The kiss was raw and wild, and just a little bit mean, but she didn't withdraw. In fact she gave, and that made his body hum in want and anticipation. His hands slid over her, learning her body, soon he pressed her back to the ground his mouth never leaving hers. For once he wasn't thinking, he wasn't doing the right thing, he was doing the selfish thing. This time he wanted to be selfish and he lost himself in her soft wet mouth.

A part of him knew that he must have been crushing her. A part of him realized that he could even be scaring her, but he couldn't make himself stop. He couldn't stop anymore then he had been able to stop wanting her all these months they had been separated.

And now that he had finally tasted her, he wanted so much more from her.

He heard her moan, a weak accepting sound that purred out of her throat and it drove him to take more. But the more he took the more she offered. His mouth nipped at her chin, before roving over her throat and she arched her neck to give him better access. Her seemingly helpless surrender both excited him and worried him. It was the worry that got through and he pulled away while he still could.

Jason looked down at her. Her eyes were still closed, her cheeks flushed, her breath was coming erratically through lips that had been rendered swollen by his. Her eyes opened slowly and he could see the desire and offer in them and he got to his feet backing away from her tempting expression. His eyes dropped from her face and fell on the exposed flat, pale skin of her stomach. His hands no doubt had shoved her sweater up, exposing the skin and the edge of her bra. 

He had done that to her, he clenched his hands trying to regain control, because at that moment he wanted nothing more than to finish what he had started with her, in a moment of anger. He wanted to take and take from her, until the need he had for her was finally sated. 

But he wouldn't.

He walked away from her and stared down into the snake pit. A part of him felt like he was still trapped in a pit, this one of Elizabeth's making, and he didn't like the feeling.

"Jason?"

At the breathy sound of his name coming from behind him, he turned and looked at her, his expression blank. "That shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake. One I won't make again."


	7. Boxers or Briefs?

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Disclaimer: I own them all. There I admit it. Sue for the lint in my pockets I dare you.

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Babble: Thanks for all of those who actually take the time and let me know what you think of my work. This part is up, in thanks, to one persistent replier.

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One of Those Days

Part VII

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~Snake Pit~

"That shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake. One I won't make again."

The pain his words caused ripped through Elizabeth with all the power and force of a tornado and left her insides ripped up just like a storm would. Bowing her head in an effort to hide it she merely nodded. Her eye fell on her exposed stomach, and automatically pulled her sweater down. Pooling her resources she began to get to her feet. Each movement was slow, precise, and incredibly painful.

Jason tried to harden his heart to the hurt he'd obviously caused her. His eyes left her to sweep the clearing again in an effort to give her the privacy she obviously wanted. Yet they were drawn back to her, when she sighed. The sigh almost broke him and he bit back the instinctive need to apologize.

Pausing with her hands on her knees and her head down she took another breath to stave off the dizziness she was feeling and tried to get a handle on her emotions. The need to hide her hurt from him was prevalent in her mind, yet totally unnecessary. Jason always saw through her no matter what she did. He even saw the things she didn't want to admit were there at all, and yet she still had to try.

"Elizabeth?" Jason asked when she stopped moving.

Call it numbness, self-protection, or latent survival instincts, what to call it she didn't know, but she did know that it would hurt her to look at him in that moment so she stalled. Bending down she untied her bootlace and began to tighten the laces. "I understand Jason. What happened was just a reaction to all the stress it didn't mean a thing."

The words were light and forgiving. They might have even been believable if her voice hadn't sounded so hollow and empty.

Jason heard an angry hiss coming from the pit behind him and at that moment he wished he were back inside of it, with the snake. Facing an angry rattlesnake sounded much better then facing a hurt Elizabeth. Especially when it was a hurt that he had intentionally caused her.

"Can we go?" Elizabeth risked a glance in his direction. "I'm tired of rattles." Actually she wanted to get as far from this place and its tumultuous memories as she could. A mixture of highs and lows were in this little clearing and it was time to leave them behind.

"Yes." Jason agreed immediately and began to lead the way out. His cautious eyes scanned the ground and he quickly spotted the rope that had help spring his flight into the snake pit. If he'd had any doubt that they weren't alone on this island it was gone now. Pushing the incident with Elizabeth to the back of his mind he began to concentrate on the most serious problem they faced. Getting off this island.

Elizabeth was caught off-guard by a thorny branch that hit her in the wake of Jason's passing. The sting of the impact brought her out of her emotional upheaval long enough to level a look of warning at his back. Moving quickly she sidestepped another branch and the look quickly morphed into a glare. By the time they were free of the thorny brambles and back on the path, the hurt was long gone and irritation and anger had taken its place. With a roll of her eyes she stepped around him when he stopped on the path. "Are you coming?"

"In a minute," Jason replied and pointed to the tree. "Where's the other parachute?"

"There isn't one," Elizabeth answered absently. 

"What do you mean there isn't another parachute?"

"It means what it sounds like. We both rode that one out of the plane," she looked pointedly at the path. "Can we go now?"

Jason crossed his arms over his chest and refused to budge. He wasn't going anyplace until he got some answers. "How could we both fit in one parachute?"

"We couldn't," irritation had her snapping the words out. "I hooked you into the chute, rolled us out of the plane and held on."

"Was there another parachute on the plane?" Jason asked quietly.

"Yes." Too late she realized the trap she'd unwittingly walked into. Nervously she backed off a step. "Can we go? I'm really thirsty."

"Why didn't you wear a parachute?"

The words were some of the quietest he'd ever spoken to her, yet they had her backing up another step. Scanning the expression on his face she knew he wasn't going to move until he got the full story. With a put-upon sigh she decided to give him the abbreviated version.

"You were unconscious, so obviously there was no way you could open a parachute. I knew there was no way I could hold on to you the whole way down, so I went with the obvious answer. I strapped you in the chute and held on," turning on her heel she began to move away. "And it worked we're both here on the ground, safe and sound."

"Except your sweater shrunk," Jason called after her.

Elizabeth's step faltered mid-stride. "W-what?"

Taking a step closer he pulled the memory from the fog in his mind. _"So then we fell out of the plane, and you were unconscious, so I fell away from you and hit the water. And this was new, not it's small all because you wouldn't wake up."_

He quoted her words verbatim and watched the guilty way she gnawed at her lip, looking everywhere but at him. "Is that what happened?"

"Maybe," she felt his eyes on her. "Yes, that's what happened. After I pulled the cord we started to spin and I lost my grip on you and fell," she saw the way his eyes hardened at that and hurried on. "But as you can see I'm fine."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Jason demanded. "Forget that you obviously weren't thinking."

"Newsflash Jason," incensed Elizabeth interrupted him. "You weren't really there. You have no idea what was going on up there. The pilot was dead and we were going to crash. We had to get off the plane, or we would die. I did the only thing I could to get us both out of there, and you know what? It worked. You have no right to get mad at me for saving your life."

"Did it ever occur to you to wear a parachute as well so if you did lose your grip, or after pulling my cord, you could let go and pull your own?" Jason shot back.

"I…" Elizabeth sputtered. "I…" infuriated because his plan made so much more sense, and would have saved her those hair-raising minutes she stomped her foot in frustration. "I asked you on the plane if you had a better idea, and you were strangely silent. So you have no right to second guess the decisions I made," she moved closer and faced him down. "That's right Jason I made a decision and according to you it was another wrong one, but hey it worked."

Both of them flashed back to the snake pit and neither wanted to deal with the consequences of what had happened there.

"I'm leaving." Elizabeth turned on her heel and headed for the clearing. "You can stay here and bitch about the fact that I risked my life to save you and it worked. Or you can let it go and realize that as bad as my methods may have been they saved your ass and come with me. At this point I don't really care what you do." With that she moved off leaving a still fuming Jason in her wake.

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~Devil's Thumb~

"Hawk if your finished hitting on the female population of the village I would like to get on the boat and get off this island," she interrupted him midline.

Hawk smiled ruefully at the Senorita he was speaking to and rolled his eyes in the direction of the frowning blonde. "Now Jessica honey if you would calm down you may realize I'm getting some useful information here."

"The only information you've gotten from the Chiquita over there is the fact that her bust size **is** bigger then her IQ," Jessica said crossly. "And as fascinating as her Betty Boop imitation is, we do have other places to be."

Hank rolled his eyes at the woman he had been speaking to and jerked a thumb in Jessica's direction before making another sign with his hand. The brunette nodded in understanding.

"Did you just call me crazy?" Jessica demanded from right behind him.

"Boss you really need to get the lingo down. I didn't call you crazy, I said you were loco," Hawk corrected her with a lazy grin.

Narrowing her eyes Jessica inched closer.

"Easy now, I got us information. Apparently a few natives saw a parachute land on one of the islands."

Jessica tapped her foot and waited, but Hawk rambled by her, heading for the dock. Irritated she spun around and trailed him. "Did Betty over there know which island? Or were you too sidetracked to ask?"

"You know you have such a fascination with my love life that I am beginning to think you're jealous," Hawk drawled coming to halt to study his steaming boss.

"I am fascinated," Jessica never missed a beat. "I'm doing a thesis on the mating habits of the male of the species and how it is only one stepped removed from the primate family."

Hawk's easy grin faded at her words and it was his turn to catch up to her.

"You've already provided me with eight pages, two more and your section will be complete," climbing on the powerful speedboat she could all but feel his glare on her back, and smothered a grin. "But for now I'd really like to know which island were heading too."

The bad thing about working with his boss was even after all of these years he never knew when she was lying and when she wasn't. He was beginning to doubt he ever would. "The one at the far end. The one the islanders call Devil's Ghost."

Jessica shook her head. "Where do they come up with these names?"

"They call it the Devil's Ghost for a good reason," Hawk's expression brightened and he rubbed his hands together. "Apparently no one who ever goes to the island is ever seen again," he leaned closer. "But when the wind is blowing right, you can hear the sounds of screams and moans coming from there."

Taking in his amused expression and the gleam dancing in his green eyes she sighed and moved past him. "Hawk some day you're going to have to grow up."

****

~Clearing~

Elizabeth was still riding the edge of her temper when she stormed into the clearing. She never fought with Jason. Even when she had been jerking him around, they really hadn't fought. But now it seemed like that was all they could do, and she didn't like it. Knowing that the friction was coming because of her didn't make her feel any better either. What she needed to do was to just take a breath and not let his coldness get to her. He had every right to be upset with her, and he had every right to take a jab at her if he wanted too. It was just she wasn't used to him doing that.

Tensing in spite of herself when she heard him enter the clearing, she began to move towards the small stream. "I drank some of this last night, but I didn't want to drink too much. Do you think it's okay to drink?"

"I found a waterfall a little ways off, it feeds the stream here. The water will probably be cleaner there, and it's also the direction we need to head. Do you want to go there?" Jason asked.

Turning around to face him he could see the surprise on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," she began to move past him. "I was just surprised you asked my opinion."

"Elizabeth we're in this together," Jason touched her arm when she moved by him, when she froze he dropped his hand. "Thank you for saving my life, both on the plane and back there with the snake. I don't like that you put yourself in danger to help me, but I can't change that you did."

"Fair enough," Elizabeth smiled slightly in his direction and took the first easy breath in awhile. Bending over she went to pick up his jacket and battled another blast of dizziness. Blinking hard she tried to force it away and hoped with everything in her that this wasn't another side effect from the drug she had taken.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," straightening she tied his coat around her waist. She wasn't about to tell him about the dizziness. If she did she would have to mention the drug she took, why she took it and Jason would go all-cold on her again. He said he didn't want to know about her life in Port Charles, and the least she owed him was to abide by his wishes. She wouldn't bring up Port Charles and all the trouble there, she could at least give him that. "Which way?"

****

~Port Charles~

Sonny Corinthos was pacing, and that in itself was unusual. His normal pattern of behavior when he was really worried about something was to stay in one place. He could stand or sit in one spot for hours, his mind stuck on what was bothering him. At times he couldn't move if his life depended on it. But apparently this wasn't one of those times. 

Since learning of the possibility of Jason being dead. He quite literally hadn't been able to stand still. Maybe if he kept moving the words wouldn't be able to catch up to him and it wouldn't be real. He tried to concentrate on Elizabeth. As much as he liked her, and had wanted to help her, he found he could function better if he focused on her possibly being dead then Jason.

That made him a bastard.

But at least he was still moving. He hadn't gotten sucked into the darkness that was always waiting there for him in his mind. All he had to do was keep moving and he would figure a way out of this situation for everyone involved.

Johnny pressed his body harder against the wall and warily eyed his boss. Sonny wasn't behaving like Sonny, and that was beginning to worry him. He watched as Sonny ran a hand through his hair, muttered something then paced back to the window. Yes he was definitely worried. Sonny didn't even seem to realize that he had gotten a coffee stain on his jacket. That sort of thing was something his meticulous boss always noted.

Keeping one eye on his boss, and one eye on the clock he cursed Benny for taking so long to come up with some news on who wanted Jason badly enough to charter a plane and kidnap him. Sonny's path of pacing was getting shorter and shorter and he knew his volatile boss was coming close to exploding. He only hoped that Benny would get here before that happened, so he could take the full-force of it. In answer to his prayer a knock sounded from the door next to him.

Moving quickly Johnny opened the door slightly, and all but jerked the silver-haired accountant inside the room.

"Where the hell have you been Benny?" Sonny demanded as soon as he entered the room. "I said I wanted the information on Jason immediately. That was hours ago. What the hell have you been doing?"

"I'm sorry it took a little time, I wanted to make sure I had everything before I updated you," Benny began in his customary drawl.

"Now Benny."

Eye's widening under the threat of the glare he was receiving Benny hurriedly complied. "About 5 months ago a request was circulated. Someone wanted Jason Morgan, not dead, but in their custody by a specific date. I didn't pick up on it then, because it wasn't a hit." Pausing Benny braced himself for the wrath of his boss.

"Go on," Sonny ordered quietly coming to a halt behind the desk.

"About a week after the initial request was made it was withdrawn. Most assumed that whoever requested the jack had changed their minds. As we know now, it was pulled because someone accepted the jack."

"Who did it?"

"Unique Unlimited," Benny said with a sigh.

Johnny nodded in understanding, now it was beginning to make sense.

Sonny caught the nod from the corner of his eye and turned on the bodyguard. "You've heard of them?"

"Oh yeah, their the best in the business. Personal security, designing systems, jacks, kidnapping retrieval, explosives, hell you name it and you can't find a better company," Johnny answered.

"I know," Benny nodded in agreement. "If we'd been using them this whole time we wouldn't be completing construction on our 4th warehouse."

"So their good at hits too?" Sonny tried to lead the conversation back to the important part.

"No they don't do hits," Johnny moved farther in the room. "Defensive driving, arms training, explosives, chemical weapons overview, the best you can find outside the military but they don't do contract hits."

"Yeah they'll train someone how to kill but won't actually take the job themselves."

"If you two are finished with your mutual admiration club I would like to get back to finding out who wanted Jason," Sonny snapped.

Chastened Benny nodded and looked at his notebook again. "The contract was not to kill Jason, only to have him in custody by a specific date."

"What date?"

"October 15."

"That's in three days," a thought occurred to him and he leveled a glare at his squirming accountant. "About this Unique International…"

"Unique Unlimited," Johnny corrected automatically, earning a glare from his boss in the process.

"If this Unique," Sonny snarled the word. "Is so superior why the hell haven't I heard of them before?"

"Because of your bias," Johnny answered simply.

"My what?" Sonny rested his hands on the desk in confusion.

"It's true," Benny picked up the slack. "We'd love to use Unique but you would never allow it. So we go with other firms, and with 3 warehouse bombings you can see the results we get from them. It's too bad about your bias."

"I know Unique even guarantees their work. After that first fire, if it would have even happened, they would have been all over the place," Johnny chimed in. "Most of the guys take all their defensive training there. And Francis, man he practically lives for what he calls their toy section, you know the explosives, the guns…"

Benny and Johnny both jolted when a glass went careening past Johnny's ear and smashed against the wall behind him.

"What fucking bias?" Sonny yelled all but shaking with rage.

"Unique is a company owned and operated by a woman. Most of their employees are women. Considering how you feel about women in," Benny swallowed hard when Sonny's eyes got even colder, "your business, we never mentioned it."

"Right you're okay with Ms. Davis representing you as your attorney, but you won't deal with women in any other way in business," Johnny finished lamely.

Sonny turned away from them trying to battle back the worst of the temper. He couldn't scream at them no matter how much he wanted too because what they said was right. He would have never hired Unique for anything.

After a minute of silence Benny nervously cleared his throat. "Sonny?"

"Do we know who wanted Jason?" Sonny kept his back to them.

"No, it was done very quietly. Until Jason was nabbed, we didn't even know about it."

"How about where Jason was supposed to be delivered?"

"The plane was going to Boston, that much we know," Johnny said. "Unless they filed a bogus flight plan."

"We need to find out who wants Jason, to do that we need to get to this company who snagged him," Sonny turned around. "Then they need to be punished. I want to know everything on this company. Where are they located?"

"New York City." Benny answered.

"Then that's where we'll go," Sonny's face-hardened into a mask. "Find me a hammer to break them Benny."

****

~Waterfall~

Elizabeth could hear the water long before she actually saw it, and the urge to dive into the water was very strong. She'd had a shower less then a day ago, and also crashed in a large body of water several hours ago, yet she still felt dirty. 

It was probably because of the weather. It was only mid-morning according to Jason, and it was October, but it was also very hot and humid. She wasn't used to the tropical weather, and the dizziness was coming more often, with every step she took. She probably just needed food, at least that's what she was telling herself. She was very good at telling herself things, she was just tired of listening.

"Elizabeth are you okay" Jason touched her arm in concern.

Blinking she tilted her head to look up at him. "What?"

"I said are you okay?" Seeing her flushed face he pressed a hand to her forehead. "Do you feel okay?"

"I'm fine."

Jason lowered his hand and studied her doubtfully.

"I'm a little hungry that's all," Elizabeth shifted on her feet. "I haven't eaten anything today."

"I'll find us some food. Right now just get a drink," he gestured to the clearing behind him and the waterfall.

Elizabeth nodded and moved towards the waterfall.

"It's probably best to drink the water as it falls," Jason told her.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't really," Jason admitted. "I don't know where the water is coming from, but it's probably clearer then what's pooling here."

Focusing on the small lake that had formed at the bottom of the waterfall, she almost groaned in want. The water looked so inviting she'd like nothing better then to dive in and get clean. "At least there's enough water to clean up."

"Why don't you take a bath?"

Elizabeth all but goggled at him at that remark.

"I-I mean, there's no soap but you can get cleaned up, take off your clothes and rinse them off, while I get some food," Jason took a step back from her.

"Are you sure it's okay? What about snakes?" Her last encounter was a little too vivid in her mind.

"Stay near the falls where there is some current." When she still hesitated he frowned at her. "What?"

"I don't have anything else to put on while the clothes are drying, so I think I'll just dab," she untied his jacket from her waist and crouched beside the water.

"I have a better idea," Jason moved past her, pulled his shirt off and plunged it into the water. "I'll rinse this now, and spread it out in the grass to dry. With the heat it shouldn't take too long. You can put it on while you wait for your clothes to dry."

Elizabeth didn't hear a word he said. Her eyes had locked on the muscles in his back as he rinsed the shirt and wouldn't budge. There was a drone in her ears that no doubt meant he was talking, but she didn't care. When he wrung out the shirt he shifted, and she saw a different set of muscles get defined when he exposed his chest. She'd had models in her art studies class, but she had to admit that this was the first time she'd ever seen a perfect chest. Even the faded scars on it, suited him, somehow making it that more appealing.

Jason spread the shirt out on the grass and turned back to Elizabeth, who hadn't moved in the last few minutes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She managed a nod but knew better than to try to speak.

"Take your time, I won't go far. If something happens just yell," misinterpreting her hesitancy he picked up his jacket and went on. "I'll whistle or call out to let you know when I'm coming so you'll have privacy."

"Okay." Elizabeth kept her eyes on him until he disappeared from view then sank wearily to her knees. Keeping her distance from him was going to be harder then she thought.

****

~Devil's Thumb~

"The Devil's Ghost. That's not good is it?" Manny asked.

"No," Francis agreed.

"Dominguez still runs the island doesn't he?" 

"Yes and he doesn't like visitors." Francis began to move towards the dock and the waiting speedboat. "We're still behind the blonde and her friend too. I don't like that."

"Do you think the rumors are true?"

"What rumors?" Francis gaze slipped past Manny when a flicker caught his attention. For a minute he thought he saw someone he recognized, but the crowd shifted and he was gone.

"About the Devil's Ghost?"

"It's not haunted it that's what you mean. The reason people don't return from there, is because Dominguez's crew kills them."

"Not that, I meant about the animals. Do you really think there are some there?" Manny pressed. He had a fascination for animals.

"Manny sometimes I worry about you and I don't have time for that now. Right now we need to focus on finding Jason before Dominguez or the blonde does, or if we can't we better pray no one on that island recognizes him." Francis untied the boat and pushed it away from the dock.

"Won't they just kill him on sight?"

"Not if they know who he is, if they recognize him," Francis sighed. "Well let's just say he might wish he was dead."

"You're sure he was the one that survived? That is was him in that parachute?" Manny asked.

"I know he's alive and the only thing that will convince me otherwise is if I see his body," Francis answered honestly.

"Well if it was him in the parachute, what does that mean for Elizabeth?"

He couldn't afford to think about Elizabeth right now, if he did it might mess him up. Instead he put on his sunglasses and started the boat.

****

~Waterfall~

Elizabeth ran her fingers through her wet hair trying to get the tangles out as best she could. Strange as it had felt to strip naked and wash in a waterfall, she really did feel better, not to mention cleaner. Checking her pants, and finding them still damp she settled back down in the grass to let them dry.

Jason's shirt came to her mid-thigh, leaving plenty of white leg exposed to the bright sun. Her eyes couldn't seem to move from the fascinating bruises she had on her legs. Bruises that looked like the fingers of a hand.

In that instant the memory came back to her. Shooting the man with the scar, then fighting with him. Him holding on to her trying to pull himself back in the plane. Then the sound of the impact her foot had made when she'd kicked him in the head so he would let go of her. She hadn't meant to kill him, she hadn't wanted too, but he was still dead. And she was now a murderer.

"I don't want to be a murderer."

Feeling the sting of the tears behind her eyes she quickly closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, anything else. If she lost it now it wouldn't do anybody any good. Besides if she lost it now, she would no doubt try to lean on Jason and he didn't want that. There would be plenty of time for her to break, after they got off the island.

A whistling sound came to her ears and she automatically tensed up. 

"It's okay Jason," Elizabeth called out getting to her feet and tried to brace herself.

It didn't help.

The sight of him, bare-chested, his face serious as he moved towards her carrying his jacket with fruits and what looked like leaves coming out of it, she still found herself unable to breathe.

"I found some food for us. Some berries and also some roots and figs. It's not a lot but it should take the edge off." Crouching he carefully laid the jacket on the ground before squinting in the sun and looking up at her. "I've already eaten so go ahead and knock yourself out."

"Are you sure their safe to eat?"

"Yeah I recognized them, their indigenous to the area, and harmless," he reached down and pulled out a clump of juicy looking red berries. "Don't just eat these though, eat the roots as well, or you might get sick off the sweetness." 

He began to rise and for the first time realized what she was wearing, or should say what she wasn't wearing. His shirt dropped to her mid thigh, exposing surprisingly long looking legs. The shirt itself was still damp in places and slipped from one shoulder exposing the creamy white skin to view. The shirt was large on her, but thanks to the dampness it clung to her breasts, outlining them in the thin blue cotton. Pulling his eyes from her chest he lowered them until they landed on the livid bruises on her legs.

Noting his stillness, Elizabeth followed his gaze, belatedly remembering the bruises that she didn't want to explain, at least not yet. Turning around she moved towards her clothes. "I'll get dressed and give you some privacy."

Recognizing her retreat for what it was, a diversion, he let her go. He'd get to the bottom of what had happened while he was unconscious sooner or later. But for now it was time to get cleaned up. With a final look at the bushes she had disappeared behind he moved towards the waterfall unbuttoning his jeans as he moved. He gave a passing thought to the fact she might be watching him then immediately shook the thought away. Elizabeth wasn't that type. Carly would have stayed out and watched him strip. But Elizabeth wouldn't.

Elizabeth moved a branch a little further out of the way and kept her eye trained on Jason as he began to undress. She was finally going to get an answer to the boxer or brief question and wasn't about to let a little embarrassment drive her away. 

****

~Port Charles~

"Stavros. Where have you been? I have been looking for you forever." Helena cried loudly into the phone when she recognized her son's voice. "Where are you?"

Nikolas paused in the entry of the salon, hearing her words he quickly moved back and to the side to eavesdrop.

__

"Mother I am a grown man. I hardly need to check in with you," Stavros reminded her icily.

Recognizing the tone of voice Helena knew she was going to have to be very careful if she wanted to regain the upper hand. "Of course my darling. You may do whatever you want."

__

"I always have."

"I know Stavros. I only meant that your stamina might not be fully back yet. The doctor has told you not to overdue."

__

"No one tells me what to do mother. Especially not you. Don't forget who your are speaking too."

"Of course My Prince," Helena spoke quickly. "Will you be returning soon? I am most anxious to reunite you with Nikolas."

__

"I'll be there when I choose, right now," he studied the two men on the speedboat. "I have other matter to attend too. As for Nikolas, do not tell him anything until I return."

"As you wish," Helena agreed. "When will you return?"

__

"Do not question me anymore Mother. It's very tiring. I will be there when I chose to be, and I will bring a surprise when I do come back," he waited until the speedboat disappeared out of the harbor before heading for his own boat. "Goodbye Mother."

"Wait Stavros, how can I reach you? Stavros?" Helena angrily hung up the phone. "Andreas."

"Yes Madame?" Andreas quickly appeared in the salon.

"The Prince has been detained, so our plans have to be pushed back for a time. Make sure you keep a close eye on Nikolas." Helena poured herself a sherry. "And Andreas, keep looking for Stavros, quietly of course."

"Yes Madame." Andreas bowed and quickly left the room.

"My darling what are you up too? We've come so far for you to mess it up now," Helena murmured.

Nikolas moved quickly down the hall and made his way off the boat being careful that no one saw him. The fear and worry had him by the throat so for the moment the knowledge of what he had heard wasn't there. Helena had sounded like she was talking to Stavros. His dead father Stavros. A man who had died more than 20 years ago. A man he had seen in a glass coffin just yesterday.

Feeling sick to his stomach by the time he reached the docks he leaned wearing against the wall. Could Helena's plan really have worked? Was his father still alive? Where was he if he was? His eyes flew open when he remembered what he had done after he had seen his father the day before. He had checked his messages, Stefan's and then Elizabeth. "Oh god Elizabeth."

Could Stavros have heard her message to him? Was he after her? Nikolas began to walk quickly down the docks. He had to see if Stavros was still in that coffin. Because if he wasn't then there was a good chance he was going after Elizabeth.

****

~Waterfall~

Doing her best to be good, Elizabeth was sitting in the clearing looking in another direction instead of at the waterfall, as she nibbled on the food he had found. The image of Jason naked under the waterfall was one she was never, ever going to forget, but now she was trying to be good, so after throwing the shirt in his direction she had given him his privacy.

Pulling his jacket closer to her, his knife slipped out of the pocket. Feeling the heat of the sun beating down on her, she picked it up and began to cut the soft material of her sweater, in an attempt to cut off the long sleeves. Even though the sweater was lightweight the last thing she wanted was something on her arms.

"Be careful." Jason spoke from directly behind her and she jumped.

"Ow, Jason don't do that," Elizabeth cried out, not bothering to look up at him she searched for where she had just nicked herself with the knife.

Concerned he crouched down beside her, brushing her hands away he checked the knick himself. It was only a scratch, but the small trickle of blood coming from her shoulder bothered him. Picking up the sleeve she had already cut free he pressed against the blood until the flow stopped.

Noting his frown she tried to lighten the mood. "Will I live Doc?" The teasing expression vanished from her face when he raised his eyes to her. The serious light she saw in those blue eyes of his wiped the smile from her face.

"I don't like the fact you were hurt," Jason whispered.

"I wasn't," Elizabeth reassured him just as quietly.

He glanced at her legs and the bruises now hidden by her pants, then back into her eyes. "Yes you were. And I wasn't able to stop it."

Touching his hand she tried to soothe. "Don't it's over with now."

"What happened?"

Jolted she blinked and pulled back, only then realizing how close their faces were.

Jason seemed to realize their proximity at the same time because he withdrew as well.

"Are you hungry?" Elizabeth asked brightly focusing on the jacket again. "I left you some berries in case you are."

"Elizabeth…"

"I was thinking about that trap you fell in Jason. Someone went to all the trouble to build it, and then hide it, why would they do that? Were they hunting animals or humans?" She got to her feet and kept talking. "Hunting humans just like in that book, and all of those movies on TBS late night. It's always some rich millionaire wanting to hunt people for sport, and eventually he gets taken out by one of his prey," she sucked in a breathe. "I think my favorite one right now is Surviving the Game, but that's because of Ice-T. I like him for some reason, I don't know why he's normally always the bad guy, but there's still something about him. I can't say much for his name though, why do they have to make up names like that?" 

She wasn't going to tell him what had happened, the longer he listened to her, the more he realized that whatever had happened was bad. But she wasn't going to tell him. Watching her nervous movements as she began to tuck the food in his jacket pockets, he decided to back off for right now.

"So do you think someone built that trap to trap animals? It was pretty deep, I don't know why they would need such a deep trap unless it was for an animal that can jump. Kind of like a big cat. But cat's aren't indigenous to this area are they?" She had originally begun this conversation to stop him from asking questions, but the more she talked the more nervous she got. Who had built that trap and why?

"Do you ever take a breath when you get going like that?" Jason asked.

"I breath through my nose," she smiled a little ruefully. "I did go off didn't I?"

"Just a little," he got to his feet and brushed the dirt off his pants. "I think it's time to get out of here."

"Sounds good, do you know where we are?"

"I think," he stopped speaking abruptly and looked back into the brush.

"Wha…" she stopped when he held up his hand. 

Elizabeth was about to speak again when she heard a rustling sound coming from the brush. Jason shifted so he was shielding Elizabeth, bending down he retrieved the knife, and handed her his jacket.

Her eyes grew wide when she heard the sound of a cough in the distance. It looked like they were about to find out who else was on this island.


	8. Frick and Frack

****

Disclaimer: The usual blather

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Begging: Please let me know what you think and if you've already replied thanks. It means a lot.

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One of Those Days

Part VIII

****

~Devil's Ghost~

Elizabeth never knew Jason could move so quickly. One minute she was standing behind him looking in the direction the voices were coming from, and the next she found herself crouching in a stand of bushes on the far side of the waterfall. He had been, quite simply, nothing but a blur. A blur which was now crouched directly in front of her, peering though the bushes and blocking her view.

In an effort to see around Jason she changed positions, earning herself a glare in response. A glare she promptly ignored and kept shifting as quietly as possible in order to see. She wasn't about to be left out of anything. Jason apparently knew better than to argue because he shifted his focus back towards the clearing.

Elizabeth finally found a spot that allowed her an opening to view the clearing. That it happened to be pressed so close to Jason's left side that she was leaning against him, was all the better for her. Keeping her expression bland she ordered her breathing to settle and focused on the area next to the pool just in time.

Her eyes widened as first one man came out of the bush, followed quickly by another. She should have been thrilled to see other people on this until now deserted island. And she would have been except for one small detail. Both men were armed with guns very similar to what Scarman had pointed at her the day before.

Life on this particular island had just gotten a hell of a lot more interesting.

****

~Port Charles Underground Lab~

Nikolas made yet another turn in the labyrinth like maze of the building, trying desperately to make sense of the conversation he'd just overheard. The thought of his father being alive, much less walking around, was incomprehensible to him a day ago, was now looking true. Two more right turns and he would know for sure. The question of what he would do if Stavros wasn't in his glass coffin occurred to him but that was as far as it went. The man that was his father just couldn't be alive.

Hesitating outside the door that led to the chamber that should hold his father, he found he didn't want to open the door and find out. As long as he didn't know for sure, he could still cling to a belief that he still harbored down deep in his heart, a belief that his father was not the cold-hearted monster that everyone but Helena made him out to be. Was it so wrong, he wondered, to want to believe that there was a small part of good in the man who had helped to create him?

As a child Stefan had helped foster the belief somewhat. He didn't know why, Stefan certainly had no love for his brother. Perhaps it was because of the way he had been raised, Nikolas didn't know for sure. But for whatever reason Stefan had let him believe that Stavros wasn't a monster. It wasn't until he was older, when his mother had come back in his life, that Nikolas had begun to learn the truth about Stavros. He thought he'd banished the hope that his father wasn't a monster years ago. But now faced with the closed door he realized he'd only buried the hope deep in his heart.

Realizing he could stall no more Nikolas slowly pushed the door open. The room was pitch black, remaining in the doorway his hand fumbled for the light switch on the wall. The harsh fluorescent lighting flooded the room, stinging his eyes, causing him to blink. Clearing the spots from his eyes, he focused on the empty glass coffin. It seemed the monster was in fact back, and on the loose.

****

~Devil's Ghost~

It was times like this that Elizabeth cursed the fact she had been more interested in staring at Lucky Spencer then she'd been in listening to her Spanish teacher. She'd come out of Spanish with an even deeper crush on Lucky and a D in the course. Her limited vocabulary consisted of asking where a bathroom and a telephone was. Both phrases did her little good at the moment.

Frick and Frack as she'd dubbed the newcomers, were carrying on a conversation in such rapid fire Spanish that all she could do was stare. Judging from the sudden increase in tension in the man next to her, she realized Jason was having no such language problems. And whatever it was he was hearing he didn't like it. Her eyes widened when she realized Jason had his knife open and clutched firmly in his right hand.

Clutching his arm hard until he looked at her she gestured to the knife and shook her head. Narrowing his eyes he purposefully turned back to Frick and Frack. What was with this sudden suicidal need to attack things with a knife? First he wanted to go after a snake and now it looked like he was ready to attack two men who were armed to the teeth. She had been right when she called him an idiot. Swallowing a curse that would do no good, she determinedly worked two fingers through the belt loop of his jeans and kept them there. He wasn't going anywhere.

Jason moved closer to the edge of the bushes and she instinctively yanked him back, by tugging hard on the belt loop. When he didn't even turn to look at her she knew they were in trouble, and she shifted her attention to see what was going on. "Frick" had found her shirtsleeve and was holding it, both of them took a sudden interest in their surroundings. Elizabeth didn't have to speak Spanish to understand that this wasn't a good development. Her suspicions were only confirmed when "Frack" pulled a knob on his gun locking it into firing position.

She couldn't help but jolt when she felt Jason's breath on her face, then his lips against her ear. "Get ready to run. When I say I want you to go out the other side of the bushes and don't stop until I tell you."

Elizabeth shook her head and pointed at him.

He didn't have time to fight with her about this. "I mean it you run when I tell you," he reiterated the order.

Determination settled on her face and Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak. Moving quickly Jason pressed a finger to her lips quieting her. Elizabeth drew back and turned until she could whisper in his ear. "I'm not leaving you."

In spite of himself Jason began to get angry. "You'll go when I tell you too."

Narrowing her eyes she shot back. "Why? So you can be slaughtered when you foolishly attack two armed men with a lousy pocketknife? I don't think so."

"Elizabeth I know what I'm doing."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement causing him to glower at her. "Then why have I been saving your ass left and right for the last day? Remember the redhead? The plane? The snake?" She hissed.

The mere fact that their argument was being held in heated whispers into the other's ears didn't lessen the impact of the words. Neither one budging an inch. Their next volley of barbs was stalled when Frick and Frack caught their attention again.

Frick had unearthed a radio and was reporting his find to someone on the other end. Jason shifted again until he was shielding Elizabeth as Frack moved closer to them to investigate. Elizabeth searched the ground looking for anything she could use as a weapon. All she could come up with was a flat rock about the size of her hand. Between her rock and Jason's knife they were in a world of trouble.

Jason barely breathed as he watched the man poke his gun into a bush a few feet away, lifting the branches in an effort to see in the dense undergrowth. This wasn't looking good. If it was just him he might have taken the risk and tried to disarm the man before he was discovered. It would be risky but with the element of surprise he might be able to take him. But he wasn't alone, the body heat against his back reminded him of Elizabeth's presence, as if he could forget her.

There was no way he was going to do anything stupid, no matter what she may think, not while she was with him. He wasn't about to put her in any more danger than she was already in. So that left him between a rock and a hard place. Preparing himself he shifted his grip on the knife in his hand. Their only option, as he saw it, was to wait until the man decided to explore this bush. When he did, Jason would stick him with the knife, grab the gun, Elizabeth, and hopefully be out the back of the bushes before his partner knew what had happened.

He didn't particularly like that scenario but it was the only option he could come up with. If they tried to sneak out the bushes, they would be heard, so they had to attack first then run. Taking a chance he risked a look back at Elizabeth, she caught his eye and angled her head closer. "Be ready."

Nodding she rested her hand on his back, feeling the tense muscles there. She knew he would be even tighter when he was ready to move and figured every little bit of notice would help. Unconsciously she slowed her breathing until it matched his, and shifted quietly until she was crouching behind him mimicking his pose, her hand never leaving his back.

In spite of Sonny's influence, he had never prayed very much. The last time he remembered doing so was when he had found Michael, safe in cabin. But he was praying now. The man came to a halt directly in front of him, and the tip of the gun began to lift the branch in front of Jason. His mind cleared, and a familiar calm descended upon him. He knew what he had to do, and was more than capable of doing it. Just a little closer and it would be time to strike, just a little…

Abruptly the gun withdrew, then so too did the man, as his partner barked out an order. Another rapid-fire conversation took place as the man continued walking away to join his partner by the water. Narrowing his eyes in speculation Jason concentrated on the conversation of the two men. He didn't let himself take a deep breath until both men turned around and began walking out of the clearing.

Hidden by Jason, Elizabeth had no idea what was going on, but when Jason moved forward she was right on his tail. Stepping out of the bushes Jason brushed the sweat off his brow, taking a final look in the far direction, before turning to face Elizabeth. A reluctant smile crossed his features when he saw her expression. "What were you going to do with that?" Jason whispered gesturing to the rock in her hand.

"Knock you out if you tried anything stupid like attacking," Elizabeth whispered back.

Again he couldn't help the smile.

"What happened?" Unsure of what was going on Elizabeth kept her voice low and looked around.

"Someone found something on another part of the island, they were ordered to check it out," Jason explained. "We have to follow them."

Her eyes went wide at that pronouncement and she immediately shook her head.

"Elizabeth I know where we are now," stepping closer he took the rock from her hand. "We need to get off this island as soon as we can, and we can't let anybody see us."

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes," he hadn't lied to her before and wasn't about to start now. "Those men can lead us to a compound, there we can get a boat or possibly a plane. But either way they know a way out of here."

Sighing Elizabeth studied their clasped hands, what he said made sense, but she couldn't help but remember the guns the men had carried. The sight of the men and the guns were bringing up memories she didn't want to deal with, but she knew he was right.

"Elizabeth do you trust me?"

"Of course," her response was immediate and her focus returned to his face.

"We have to do this," Jason informed her softly. 

"We'll stay together right? You won't try to send me away or go off on your own will you?" She hated asking for reassurance but needed to hear it.

Unsure of where the sudden doubt she was exhibiting was coming from, Jason took time they didn't have and reassured her. "I would never leave you alone in this situation. Especially not now that I know where we are. I promise you I won't leave you alone." Giving into temptation he caressed the softness of her cheek. "If I tell you to run I will be on your heels, I promise."

A promise from Jason was more then she'd hoped for and more than enough reassurance. "Then we better go before we lose Frick and Frack."

Blinking at the names she said, Jason turned, his hand automatically taking hers to lead the way.

****

~Beach~

"Wasn't it thoughtful of someone to leave this fully gassed up jeep for us to use?" Hawk asked shooting a cheeky grin in his boss's direction.

Jessica merely tightened the scarf in her hair. "I'll be impressed when you can get it started hotshot."

"Oh ye of little faith." Sticking his head under the hood he began to fiddle with the engine.

"So what does this do to your theory of the island being haunted?" Pulling the gun from her shoulder holster, she popped the cartridge free to check the load. Even though she had loaded the darts herself, she was professional enough to check her weapon, often.

"Who says ghosts can't be mechanized?"

"Hawk it's a Hummer, fully loaded with bullet holes in the chassis, somehow I think the only ghosts we're going to find on this island are the kinds with guns and a drug problem."

The engine roared to life and Hawk slammed the hood closed. "It's going to make for an interesting hunt don't you think?" Grinning he jumped in the driver's seat next to her. "Who will retrieve the prey? The dopers or us?"

Lowering her sunglasses Jessica aimed a cool look in his direction. "Sometimes Hawk you really do worry me."

"That's a good thing to hear." Hawk leaned closer until their faces were inches apart. "Because you scare the hell out of me all the time."

****

~Warehouse~

Not caring who saw him, Nikolas Cassadine burst into the Corinthos/Morgan coffee warehouse, and made a beeline for the offices in the back. He came to an abrupt halt just before he ran into a mountain of a man, whose hands were the size of his head. "Can I help you?" The gravel voice that rolled out of the mountain certainly fit.

"I need to see Sonny."

"Mr. Corinthos isn't in," came the reply.

"Where is he?" Nikolas demanded answers and the mountain refused to reply. Having neither the time nor the inclination to be intimidated he moved closer and lowered his voice. "I need to see him now, I have information concerning Jason."

A spark of interest flickered in the mountain man's eyes yet his expression never changed. "Give me the message I'll make sure it gets to Mr. Corinthos."

"No, I'll tell Sonny, but only Sonny," Nikolas backed off the step and waited.

"You might want to rethink that."

Smiling coldly Nikolas went on. "And you might want to rethink your position. What will you do if Jason dies and Sonny finds out you wouldn't let me help him?" It was a gamble, the man before him could probably break him in two. He'd had some martial arts training but wasn't stupid, there was no way he could take the mountain physically, but he could take him mentally. The longer the mountain took to make up his mind the more confident he became.

"Wait here," the mountain said finally before moving down the hall to make a call.

Nikolas swallowed his sigh of relief. It wouldn't be good to look too relieved, he hadn't seen Sonny yet. He was determined to remain strong, and he wasn't leaving until he got some information from Sonny Corinthos. That information was Elizabeth's precise location. If Stavros was going after her there was no way he was going to rely on Sonny to help her. Sometime during the trip from the lab to the warehouse he'd come to the unsettling realization that he would have trusted Jason with Elizabeth's safety. But Jason was missing and he knew, in spite of what Sonny might say to the contrary, that his main concern was finding Jason, not Elizabeth. Whereas, Elizabeth was his primary concern.

"Come with me."

Nikolas jolted at the terse order. For such a big man, he could move softly when he wanted too. Nodding Nikolas followed the mountain out of the warehouse.

****

~Trail~

Elizabeth had never noticed just how loud a person really became when they were making a conscious effort to be quiet. The more she scanned the ground for noisy twigs, the more she seemed to find that she couldn't avoid them. Jason, she couldn't help but notice, seemed to have no such problems. He was moving as smoothly and quietly as always, every movement the picture of control. Envy was such a pithy emotion, yet she couldn't help but wallow in it at the moment.

Jason set a pace that kept them well back and out of sight of Frick and Frack. At first she'd been concerned that they would lose them, yet quickly realized her fears were misplaced. Frick and Frack had a smoking problem, and whatever it was they were lighting up wafted to them on the breeze every now and then. And even though the smoke was diluted by dozens of yards it was still powerful enough to give her a headrush. Already feeling off-balanced the exposure to the obviously laced pot wasn't something she enjoyed.

"Are you okay?" Jason couldn't keep the question in any longer. Although she had kept pace easily enough her color had steadily decreased until she appeared almost waxy.

Startled at the quiet question for a second all she could do was blink at him. "I'm fine."

Jason noted the way her eyes slid away from his when she answered the question and his stomach clenched in concern. If she fell ill he didn't know what he could do to help her. "You need to be honest with me."

Looking pointedly over his shoulder in the direction of Frick and Frack she avoided his plea. "Shouldn't we be going? We don't want to lose them."

Refusing to budge Jason merely crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

She tried to remain strong, she really did, but she'd never been able to refuse him, when he looked at her like that. And he was right, they needed to be honest with each other. So she would be honest at least to a point. "The smoke it's making me dizzy. I already had a headache because of our less than filling snack earlier, so I guess my equilibrium is a little off."

Concerned Jason placed a hand on her forehead to check for a fever. "You don't feel hot."

If he kept his hand there and kept looking at her like that she soon would be. "I'll be fine."

Studying her eyes he had the feeling she wasn't telling him everything, but he decided to let it go. He'd keep an even closer eye on her and had to trust that she would tell him if she started feeling worse.

Uncomfortable with his scrutiny Elizabeth stepped back then around him. "We better go." Knowing he'd follow she began moving down the path.

****

~Airport~

"Max says you have something to tell me." Sonny barely waited for Nikolas to enter the private room in the terminal before he pounced.

So the mountain had a name. Mt. Max, somehow it fit him. Shaking off his thoughts, he focused on the mobster. Sonny was a different person then Max. He was going to need to be at the top of his game if he wanted to get the information he needed. "I found out something you need to hear."

"It must be pretty big if you were willing to risk being seen by hunting me down. You do realize that Helena shouldn't know we're speaking," Sonny reminded the younger man.

"At this point I don't much care what Helena knows," Nikolas shot back. "In fact she probably already knows."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that there is good reason to believe that Helena not only knows Elizabeth is alive, she'd already sent someone after her to kill her," Nikolas explained briefly.

The only change in Sonny's expression was his eyes, if possible they grew even colder. "Who?"

"My father."

****

~Beach~

"You know somehow I thought the island would be bigger," Manny commented.

Francis merely threw a bag at him and clambered off the boat.

"So which way oh wise one?" Manny asked after another minute of study.

"Inland, there's a compound about 5 miles in." Francis shouldered his backpack and began leading the way.

"Won't Jason hug the coastline looking for a boat?" Manny asked what he thought was a logical question. Francis was so convinced that Jason was the one that had survived that Manny was trying to put himself in Jason's shoes.

"No," Francis kept his answer brief. It didn't work.

"Why?"

"Once Jason figures out what island he's on, he'll know to move inland to stay out of sight. Speaking of staying out of sight we better move before Dominguez's welcoming crew arrives," Francis answered.

"How do you know we've been spotted?"

"Because he has lookouts posted around the island," Francis snapped. "Jesus Manny you know he has a major drug factory here. You think he doesn't keep track of who lands here? Hell they cover the airstrip until they want to use it, so there are no unauthorized landings."

Manny moved quickly to catch up with his friend. "How do you know so much about this island?"

"Once upon a time I lived here. Now shut up and come on."

The longer the day went on the more he found out about Francis. Another thought occurred to him and he hurried to catch up. "So you'd know what kind of animals they have here? What are they? Tigers, lions, leopards? Oh I know cheetahs."

Rubbing a hand wearily over his face Francis couldn't help but wish for Johnny. At least he knew when to shut up.

****

~Jeep~

"Are you sure this is a road?" Jessica demanded.

"Sure. Can't you tell by the ruts?" Hawk answered glibly, even though it did feel like his teeth were about to be shaken loose of his jaw. Triple A would never approve this road.

Deciding it wasn't worth the effort to glare at him, Jessica focused on the only map they had of Devil's Ghost. To say it was crude was putting it mildly. Other than the highest and lowest point and the length and width of the island there was precious little else on the map. At this rate it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. And this time the needle would be aware she was coming. She'd lost the element of surprise with Jason Morgan and she didn't like that. Catching Morgan off-guard had been key in her earlier capture of Morgan. It was a whole different ballgame now that he knew someone was targeting him.

Added to that was the unpredictability of their location. She liked to have all the information necessary before moving on a target. That required research, a lot of it. She hadn't had time to research this island and she'd already discovered something she didn't like. A jeep in this condition in the middle of nowhere could only mean one thing. There were drug runners on the island and that raised the stakes considerably.

"Want to turn back?" Hawk asked suddenly. He knew his boss better than most, and he knew she didn't like rushing into places unless she already had 5 exits in her pocket.

"And give up a bounty?" She glanced in his general direction. "I never quit. Nor do I fail, I still have two days to bring this bounty in and I intend to deliver."

"Just checking, you seem kind of green," Hawk teased.

"Between your driving and your company, it's a wonder I'm upright," Jessica taunted icily.

"Darling you love me, you know you do," grinning rakishly at her he waited until she lowered her shades before winking.

"Keep your eyes on what you call a road or I'll leave you here to rot Hawk," she shot back refusing the impulse to smile.

****

~Trail~

Exercise must be good for her because she no longer felt nauseous or lightheaded. She must be looking better as well because Jason wasn't looking at her near as often as he had been. But he still had hold of her hand and she liked the feeling too much to let go, even though a part of her knew she should. His rejection of her at the snake pit was still fresh in her mind and in her heart, but even that pain wasn't enough to make her stay away from him. She needed to face the truth here, she'd get as close to Jason as he'd let her get.

"I remember the redhead shooting me, and the next thing I remember is waking up on this island. You said we were on a plane. How did that happen?" Jason posed the question out of nowhere and judging from the way she tensed up, he'd caught her off-guard, which had been his intention.

Carefully choosing her words, Elizabeth answered. "After you were shot, these men in a car showed up, they threw you in the trunk, and headed for the airport.

"You were in the house right?" He saw her nod from the corner of his eyes. "So how did you get to the airport?"

Dropping his hand Elizabeth nervously ran a hand through her hair. "I don't think that matters now. Who cares how we got here. The important thing is the fact we are here, and now, we need to figure out a way out of here." 

Increasing his pace to keep up with a decidedly nervous Elizabeth he decided to keep the pressure up. "Did they snatch you out of the house? I need to know if they were only after me or if they wanted you too. It may be the only way to figure out who was behind this."

His brand of logic was difficult to ignore and she had to admit he had a right to the information. "No they didn't grab me. I followed them to the airport. Honestly I don't think they even knew I was with you. The redhead said she had a bounty on you, but in order to collect it you had to be alive upon delivery. Sca…" Elizabeth stopped abruptly she didn't want to talk about him.

Jason noticed her sudden agitation and the way she began to rub her temple. Something she'd said or almost said had spooked her and he was determined to find out what. "How did you get to the airport?"

It was a testament to her agitation that Elizabeth just blurted out the answer, without thinking of the consequences. "I took your bike." When he stilled beside her, those consequences crashed into her full force.

"You what?" Jason asked quietly hoping he'd misheard her.

"I didn't have a choice. They were getting away. They were taking you away from me and I couldn't let that happen. If I'd taken the time to go inside and call Sonny you would have been long gone. So when I saw your bike I took it," she explained quickly.

"And let me tell you, you were concerned about nothing. I had no problems whatsoever in handling the bike." She deliberately blocked out the screams of the nun she'd almost run over, not to mention the curses from the ice cream vendor she'd side-swiped. And she firmly banished the final image of his bike from her mind. Wedging the bike so hard between a concrete wall and a trash bin that it was stuck upright probably wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done, but she wasn't stupid enough to admit to Jason what had happened.

"Do you realize you could have wrecked? That you could have been hurt or even worse killed?" Jason demanded. Again the unfamiliar mix of anger over the risks she had taken and fear over what could have happened to her mixed inside of him until they were unleashed on an unsuspecting Elizabeth, who was refusing to be intimidated.

"Jason it's yesterday's news, literally. So let it go," Elizabeth snapped. "We better catch up with Frick and Frack."

"To hell with Frick and Frack. How could you be so careless with your life?"

Angered Elizabeth turned to face him. "I was careless as you so cavalierly put it, because I was afraid you were going to die. Why can't you get that through your thick head? Everything I've done in the past 24 hours has been in an effort to save your life."

"Elizabeth lower your voice," Jason warned her.

"No you need to hear this." Anger overrode her common sense and as a result her mouth ran ahead of her brain. "Everything I did, from stealing your bike, to sneaking on the plane, to shooting and fighting with Scarman, to jumping out of the airplane wrapped around you, to the snake pit. Everything I've done has been to help you, and I won't listen to you condemn me for it, especially when I know that if the situations were reversed you would have done the same for me."

"Who is Scarman?"

Elizabeth staggered back at the question. She hadn't meant to let that slip. Unbidden the sound of the crunch of his nose breaking as she kicked him, came to her, followed by the memory of his eyes as he realized he was falling. Horrified by the images her stomach rolled and her head began to throb.

Jason reached out for her when she began to shake, but she stepped quickly out of reach.

"He doesn't matter. Frick and Frack matter, we need to find them," desperate to get away from his question she turned and began to jog in the direction she'd last seen the pair.

Upset at himself for pushing her too hard, and concerned because he couldn't call after her, Jason put on a burst of speed and caught her right as she entered a clearing. Both of them came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Frick and Frack who were standing about 10 feet away from them. Frick had his back to them, while he seemingly pissed in the wind. But Frack was looking right at them.

Jason never even hesitated. Turning quickly, he grabbed Elizabeth's hand and tugged hard, propelling them back in the direction they'd just come from. They managed to reach the relative safety of the tree line when the first volley of bullets hit the ground behind them.

****

~Jeep~

"Stop the jeep," Jessica ordered.

"What?" Hawk obliged immediately.

"Be quiet and listen," she snapped.

Hawk was about to speak when he heard the distinctive sounds of gunfire coming from somewhere left of their position. "There was a fork in the road about a ¼ mile back." He put the jeep in gear trying to maneuver a sharp turn in the narrow roadway.

"Hurry up," Jessica hissed. She only got paid if the bounty was alive.

****

~Trail~

"Could you get a fix on what direction the shots came from?" An out of breath Manny asked when Francis paused in their run.

"I think they came from West of here. There's an old bush trail in that area, it could be coming from there." Francis took off leaving Manny to catch up if he could.

****

~Bushes~

Elizabeth's sides were killing her, and her lungs felt aflame. She'd once considered herself in reasonably good shape, but she wasn't, not really. Even the prospect of being shot wasn't going to be able to motivate her for very much longer.

"Come on Elizabeth," Jason urged from her side. She was tiring badly, he could see it, but they hadn't lost their pursuers yet.

Biting her lip Elizabeth forced herself to go on. Judging from the burning she felt in her throat, she didn't have much left, and at that moment down she went. Jason pulled her back to her feet in a minute. She was even too tired to jolt when a bullet hit the ground she'd just been sitting on.

"Run." Jason yelled, yanking on her arm to propel her in motion.

Running was one thing she knew how to do above anything else. But she had a feeling running wasn't going to get her anywhere, not this time.

****

~Jeep~

"Watch out." Jessica's warning came the same time the glass windshield exploded.

"Christ." Hawk fought to maintain control of the jeep as another volley of bullets cascaded down on the jeep. Whoever was shooting at them had high ground cover. That meant they were screwed.

****

~Bushes~

Elizabeth fell for the fourth time, or was it the fifth? She didn't remember or care. She only knew that this time she didn't think she was going to be able to get up. Gunmen or no, she was spent.

"Get up," Jason was breathing hard and his lungs were beginning to burn. "We need to keep going," already he could hear the nearing pursuit of their chasers.

"I can't go on," Elizabeth gasped out the words. "I'll hide, you go."

"No," yanking her to her feet he ignored her scream of pain. "Where you go I go that's the promise I made."

"Jason," she weakly tried to argue. But Jason would have none of it. He took off again, this time he was half carrying, half dragging her, but he didn't seem to notice.

Compelled by his determination Elizabeth dug deep, finding her last vestige of strength she began to move under her own power again.

****

~Trail~

"Christ that's a lot of gunfire," Manny was bent over at the waist trying to catch his breath yet he still felt compelled to speak. He simply had too. "Francis?"

Frowning he looked around for the man who should have been right in front of him. He'd taken one step forward when he heard the sound of a gun cocking from directly behind him. Next he felt the cold steel of the weapon at the base of his neck. "Shit."

****

~Cliff~

"Now what? It's a dead end." Fully exhausted Elizabeth sank to her knees at the edge of the cliff. "We're trapped."

Jason looked right, then left. They were on some sort of cliff face, and the sides were too steep to climb down. Looking back the way they came he could already hear Frick and Frack closing fast. She was right they were trapped.

Moving to the edge he looked over the edge into the rapids below. The drop was about 50 feet. "Get up." This time he was gentle as he pulled her to her feet, but gentle or not he was determined.

Leaning heavily against him Elizabeth raised her head. "Now what?"

"We have to jump."

Sure that she'd heard him wrong she merely stared.

"It's our only option," he led her away from the edge before she had a chance to see just how big of a jump he was talking about.

"Are you insane Jason? I've already tempted fate by jumping out of a plane with no parachute. I think I might be pushing my luck if I try cliff diving."

"We're not going to dive, we're going to jump, feet first," Jason explained calmly. "And this time I won't be unconscious, I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Jason," closing her eyes she tried to swallow her fear. "Are you sure there isn't another way?"

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. Either we stay here and get captured, or worse shot, or we jump," he explained honestly. "The choice is yours. I'll do what you say."

Looking in his eyes she realized he would do just that. If she said she wouldn't jump, he wouldn't either. Instead he would probably attack Frick and Frack to they couldn't hurt her. And in doing so he'd probably get killed. "You'll be with me?" She asked shakily.

"I'll be right behind you," Jason vowed. The sounds of crashing through the underbrush were getting louder and he knew they were almost out of time. "What's it going to be Elizabeth?"

"I guess we jump."

Before she could change her mind Jason shifted her position until she was facing the edge. "I want you to run as hard as you can and at the last second jump. Try to keep your feet together. When you hit the water, start kicking for the surface. There's probably a cave at the base of the cliff head right for it and wait for me."

"What? Wait for you? Where are you going to be?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Right behind you, I already told you, where you go I go." Leaning forward he kissed her briefly. "Now run."

Obeying his order automatically Elizabeth took off nearing the edge she couldn't help but scream as she pushed off into nothing. She was free falling all over again.

Jason waited for her to jump before he took off after her. He was about 3 feet from the edge when someone hit him in the middle of the back pinning him to the ground.

****

~Splash Down~

Elizabeth hit the water hard, harder than she had the day before. Like her last time in the water, for a second she was too stunned to do anything but drown. But remembering Jason's words she began to kick her way to the surface and the daylight.

At least that was what she tried to do. But when she went to kick she felt something latch around her ankle holding her in place. Startled Elizabeth kicked again, and all she managed to do was entangle her other leg as well. 

Feeling desperate she began to thrash about in the water, trying to kick herself free. Whatever was holding her responded by wrapping itself tighter around her legs. What breath she had left came out of her as panic began to over take her, and a steady stream of bubbles made it's way to the surface. Trying to calm herself she tried to relax. She didn't need to worry, Jason would be here soon. He'd free her. After all he promised. And Jason always kept his promises.


	9. Lost

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Disclaimer: I own a few, rent a few, abuse a few…

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Babble: Please let me know if you like my little adventure fic or not. Tell me what you would like to see happen. I only have one more stored chapter of this, from then on it's all new, meaning your replies could shape things.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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One of Those Days

Part IX

****

~Water~

Elizabeth's lungs were burning, her energy rapidly being depleted. The sunlight flickering down through the water was gradually beginning to fade. Some part of her began to realize that Jason, in spite of his promise to the contrary, wasn't coming. With her last reserve of strength she bent down and focused on the weeds that had wrapped so tightly around her ankles. Maybe because her struggles had slowed, or maybe because it was almost too late to do any good, whatever the reason, a calmness descended over her and she managed to free one leg, and then the other.

Looking up, the surface seemed like a tiny pinprick of light, very far away. Kicking weakly she tried to propel herself towards it. She managed two kicks before she wondered why she was even trying. Her lungs didn't burn anymore, she didn't even feel anything anymore, it just seemed easier to just float. And without consciously being aware of it that's exactly what Elizabeth began to do. Though free of the weeds she continued to float below the water in her watery grave. The pinprick of light faded until there was nothing left but the comforting blackness.

****

~Cliff~

Jason hit the ground hard. His attacker's weight propelling the air out of him in a rush. The stunning surprise he felt lasted only an instant, but an instant, was an instant too long. The sound of the hammer being cocked on a handgun, sounded very loud next to his ear.

"All right this is what we're going to do." Came a heavily accented masculine voice. "On the count of three you're going to get up slowly, keeping your hands where I can see them at all times. If you don't," he pressed the barrel of the gun against Jason's cheek. "I'll shoot you. You understand?"

"Yes," Jason agreed immediately. A portion of his brain was busy counting the seconds since Elizabeth had jumped. If he didn't jump soon she would start calling for him, and his attacker would know where she was. There was a chance, a small chance, but a chance, nevertheless that the man thought they had split up. He wanted to reiterate that chance, and give her as much of a lead as he could.

The weight on his back eased as his attacker regained his feet. Biding his time Jason obediently waited for the man to count to three before he began moving. Getting to his knees his eyes scanned the ground looking for anything he could use as a potential weapon, but he saw nothing. Placing his hands in the dirt he pushed his way to his feet, keeping his back to the man with the gun.

"Turn around slowly, and keep your hands out to the side."

Doing as he was told Jason turned and faced the man. The man was about 2 inches shorter and thirty pounds heavier than Jason and was standing about 3 feet away. The gun aimed in his direction was very steadily aimed at his chest. The man obviously wasn't a novice.

"I've seen those movies too my friend. Open your hand." The man ordered.

"What?"

"You're hand," he gestured with his free hand keeping the gun level. "Open it. I'm not stupid I know what you did."

Sighing Jason reluctantly opened his left hand releasing the handful of dirt that was there.

"Did you think I was an idiot?" The man demanded stepping closer in outrage.

The minute he moved so did Jason. Throwing the other handful of dirt in the man's eyes Jason took him down in a tackle. The man's yelp as the rock stung his eyes quickly turned into a groan when Jason's weight hit him. The height advantage Jason had, was offset by the weight advantage of his opponent but as they began rolling on the ground each fighting for leverage, fighting for control over the gun, neither one had the advantage.

Jason had been in many fights and so apparently had his foe. His hands tightened on the barrel of the gun trying to shift the direction of it away from his chest. Gaining the advantage for a minute Jason rammed a knee in the man's unprotected groin. His foe screamed in agony and his hold loosened on the gun. Jason wasted no time in wrenching it free, but before he could get a proper hold of it, the man hit his hand sending the gun flying and launched himself at Jason's throat. The momentum took Jason off his knees and the man landed heavily on top of him, his hands wrapped around his throat.

The fight began in earnest, Jason recognized the drug-induced madness he saw in his opponent's eyes. It explained the strength the other man shouldn't have had, it also explained why he exhibited almost no reaction to Jason's blows. The hands tightened on his windpipe cutting off his air supply, and all during the struggle, a part of his mind was screaming that he was taking too long, that he had to get to Elizabeth now. Trying to banish the thought before it could distract him Jason clasped his hands together and brought them down hard on the other man's back.

The blow was enough to weaken the other man's grip and Jason grabbed the man's hand and pulled it free of his neck by wrenching hard on his thumb. Caught off-balanced by the pain the man leaned heavily to the left trying to ease the pressure. Jason kept his right hand flat and slammed it palm first into the other man's sternum as hard as he could. Resistance gone the other man began to wheeze in agony.

Jason swung again this time a punch to the man's throat. The punch caused him to groan and collapse back on the ground. Hitting him twice more to make sure he was out, Jason then checked the man's pockets. Coming up with a compass, a lighter and two additional clips of ammunition Jason looked around for the gun and pocketed his supplies.

Spying the gun a few feet away he hurried to it and picked it up, checking to make sure the safety was engaged he jogged towards the cliff anxious to find Elizabeth. Bullets riddled the ground in front of him sending dirt and debris flying, stopping him in his tracks.

"Drop the gun and turn around." Came the terse command.

****

~Trail~

"Take it easy there man. What's your problem?" Manny tried to speak calmly.

"Who are you?"

"Ease up," Manny cried when the gun pressed harder into his neck. "I'm nobody. Just someone who made a wrong turn somewhere and got off on the wrong island. I'll just correct myself, and head back to my boat. You'll never see me again."

"I don't think I believe you."

"Wait." The words were cutoff when he was struck hard at the base of the neck by the gun. Stunned Manny fell to his knees then slumped forward.

"No I definitely don't believe you." Each word was punctuated with a vicious kick to Manny's unprotected ribs and kidneys.

Eyes crossing in pain Manny fell hard to the ground, too dazed to do anything but groan.

"If you are just a tourist why do you have a gun?" His attacker demanded, yanking the gun free of Manny's holster. "No you are a thief. And on this island we execute thieves."

Forcing his eyes open, in spite of the pain, Manny looked up into the barrel of a shotgun. He had time for a brief thought of his sister before the shot rang out.

****

~Fire Trail~

"Jesus Hawk if you keep driving like this we won't have to worry about dying by bullets, we'll die by your hand instead." Jessica warned her companion.

Yanking hard on the wheel, Hawk managed to maintain a somewhat semblance of control as he made a sharp turn, only one tire had been in space, he considered that an accomplishment. "Look sweetheart anytime you want to drive you're welcome to the wheel. But until then you want to try something useful like maybe taking out one of those snipers in the trees?"

"It's kind of hard to shoot someone you can't see," Jessica pointed out tartly.

"Well you better start seeing them, because judging from the way this road keeps narrowing with every turn we make, and the fact the cliffside drop keeps getting closer, I'd say we're almost out of road. Once that happens we'll be running," risking a glance in her direction he grinned rakishly. "And I run so much better without any lead additives."

Jessica ignored him, concentrating instead on loading the other guns with live ammunition. Another bullet went into the dash in front of her drawing her focus on the tress. Whoever was shooting at her seemed to be playing with them. She didn't think anyone was that bad of a shot that meant as long as they wanted to play her and Hawk would be fine.

"Hold on!" 

The warning had barely reached her ears before she felt Hawk's hand on her chest trying to stop her forward momentum as the jeep rammed a log that was blocking to road. Even with the seatbelt she was wearing and his hand her head still managed to connect with the dash.

That was all she remembered.

****

~Airport~

"Your father? What the hell do you mean your father?" Sonny demanded. "According to Luke he killed your old man years ago."

"Surprise Luke is wrong yet again," Nikolas couldn't help but snap back. "Stavros Cassadine should be dead. He would be dead if my Grandmother hadn't interfered and played God. It's a long story that we don't have time for. I need you to tell me where you sent Elizabeth. I need to find her before he does."

"Tell me the story Nikolas," Sonny ordered.

"Tell me where Elizabeth is," Nikolas countered.

"The plane is fueled and ready to go." Johnny entered the room interrupting the staring contest. "What's going on?"

"Where are you going?" Nikolas demanded.

Ignoring the question Sonny asked one of his own. "What's this about your father going after Elizabeth?"

"I got the information on the plane crash." Benny entered the room with his eye on the file in his hand, and failed to notice Nikolas until it was too late.

"What plane crash?" Nikolas asked.

Sonny leveled a long look at his accountant/fact finder and debated what to tell the kid.

"She called from an airport." Nikolas' mind raced working through possible scenarios. The only scenarios he could think of made him feel ill. "Was Elizabeth on an airplane?"

Sighing Sonny realized he was going to have to tell the kid something. "Maybe. We have a report that says she was but we don't know for sure."

Somehow Nikolas managed to get the next question past the lump in his throat. "And that plane she was supposedly on, was that the one that crashed?"

"Yes."

Nikolas staggered back. It was all his fault. Everything was his fault. This had been his plan, and he'd dragged Elizabeth into it. It was his Grandmother that had put Elizabeth in danger in the first place, and the only reason his Grandmother was around at all was because of him. It was all his fault. "We're there any survivors?"

Sonny couldn't help but feel for the kid. After all he was feeling many of the same emotions himself. Anger, disbelief, guilt, always guilt, he could see that reflected in the younger man's eyes. "A witness saw a single parachute."

Hope, it crashed into him. "One?" Swallowing hard Nikolas forced himself to look at the other men in the room. "Who else was on the plane?"

"We're not positive how many were on the plane," Sonny hedged.

"He," Nikolas pointed to Benny who was doing his best to blend in the background. "Said he had a report on the crash. So let's hear it."

"Nikolas I think you need to…"

"I think he needs to answer my question." Incensed the Cassadine Prince straightened his spine and met the mobster's look with one of his own. "Now."

Suddenly finding himself faced with a man instead of a boy Sonny wearily shook his head. He really didn't have time to deal with this. "Fine. Jason was on the plane with at least two other men, besides Elizabeth. Only one parachute came out of the plane, so there was only one survivor out of a possible four."

"1 in 3 actually," Benny interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Sonny turned away from an ashen-faced Nikolas.

"Divers reached the plane. The pilot's still strapped in his seat, so he definitely wasn't the one in the chute." Benny glanced needlessly at his already memorized file before going on. "He also didn't die in the crash. He was shot repeatedly. Apparently they found bullet holes all through the cockpit and in the instrument panel. Preliminary thinking is indicating that the bullets are what caused the crash."

Closing his eyes Sonny briefly sent up a prayer in thanks or in concern he wasn't sure. "Did they find anyone else on the plane?"

"No. Both the NTSB and the DEA have taken an active interest in the crash, both because of where the flight originated from and also because of the way it crashed. The Feds are crawling all over things." Benny grinned, they'd caught a break with that. "That means they'll be enough leaks that we'll know everything they do within an hour of them knowing."

"Keep listening." Sonny pointed towards the plane and jerked his head at Johnny getting him to move as well. Soon only him and Nikolas were left in the small room.

"You think its Jason don't you? You want him to be the one in the parachute."

Hearing the accusation Sonny couldn't help but wince. "Yes I think Jason was the one who survived. Do I want him to the one who lived, even with Elizabeth on the plane? Yes."

"Bastard." Nikolas managed before stepping away trying to control his anger, his frustration, his … grief?

"I know I am." Sonny agreed quietly. "I also know that you're hoping its Elizabeth that survived even though you know Jason was on the plane."

"It's different. Jason worked for you he knew what to expect. Elizabeth went to you for help. She went to you for protection. We both trusted you to provide her with that protection. You were supposed to save her life not kill her." Nikolas remarked scathingly hoping to inflict damage on the man before him.

Sonny nodded again, quietly taking the blame on his shoulders. The weight he already bore on his shoulders almost overwhelmed him at times, but he accepted the new weight, all of it was a burden of his making. He'd been thinking the same thing for hours now, but finally hearing the words aloud seemed anti-climatic somehow. "I know."

"Where did you send her?" Nikolas asked roughly. There was still a chance she'd never gotten on the plane at all. As small of a chance that was Nikolas was willing to take it, to cling to it, to hope.

"I can't tell you that. Believe me Nikolas I have people searching for both of them. I'll keep you informed."

"I don't think I can believe you Sonny. You haven't kept me informed about anything so far, and you have this bad habit of missing things. Like missing Sorel, like missing the fact my aunt was still nearby when you blew up your penthouse, like sending Elizabeth into an even more dangerous situation than she was in here." Not caring that he was coming dangerously close to threatening the mobster Nikolas moved closer. "So you're going to tell me where you sent her and I am going to find her, while you concentrate on finding Jason which is all you want to do anyway."

"You're walking a fine line Nikolas," Sonny warned him. "I'll only tolerate so much from you. I told you, we will find out what happened to her."

"But your focus in on finding Jason not Elizabeth right?" Nikolas pressed. "That's what you want to do the most isn't it? Find Jason?"

"Boss?" Johnny stuck his head back in the room interrupting the tense scene. "The pilot says there's a storm front moving in. We need to leave if we want to get out ahead of it."

Sonny nodded and Johnny withdrew.

"You're upset and concerned about your friend so I'll let what's been said here, stay here, and I'll keep you informed," Sonny stated in conclusion. He'd wasted enough time with Nikolas.

"You don't get it do you?" Nikolas cried. "This isn't only about you or Jason, or even Elizabeth anymore. This is also about my father, whom I afraid to say, is every bit the monster that everyone says he is."

"And?"

"And for some reason he's focused on Elizabeth. He knows I was supposed to kill her and instead I got her away. He knows I care for her, and he's very much like Helena. He likes to take people away from people who care about them and break them. He was there when I got Elizabeth's message. He heard what she said, and he disappeared right after he heard that and even Helena doesn't know where he is." Nikolas reasoned aloud trying to pull out a coherent reason for the sinking feeling in his gut. "Maybe he's trying to bring her back to me. Maybe he thinks she left me for Jason, maybe he just want's to see if he can still stalk someone, I don't know. All I know is he's going after her, I know he is, and he won't stop until he finds her or unless someone stops him."

Uneasy at the image Nikolas' words were creating in his mind Sonny tried to deny them. "There's no way he could know where she is."

"I was with my father, whom I thought was dead, when I got her message. I went straight to you. I thought I heard someone behind me once or twice but I didn't seen anyone, you remember you heard something too. After I left how focused were you on watching your back?"

Sonny grew quiet remembering all the orders he'd been distracting Johnny with as they walked to the car.

"It is possible that he followed whomever you sent to find Jason and Elizabeth. And it is possible that he is still following them."

"Why?"

"Again I don't know for sure," Nikolas all but shouted in frustration. "Helena once tried to gain my favor by brainwashing Lucky into pushing Elizabeth at me. Maybe Stavros is trying to gain it by bringing back the woman I spent the last few weeks telling everyone I not only wanted but was obsessed with," he theorized. "How the hell should I know what is going on in his mind? He should be dead. Helena froze him for 20 years who's to say his brain has even unthawed yet?"

"Froze?" Sonny repeated in disbelief.

"We don't have time for this," Nikolas snapped. "Let me ask you something. How hard would it be for me to find out where a plane crashed landed that was carrying a pilot that was shot to death? How hard would it be for me to start searching the surrounding islands until I found the correct one? How difficult would it be for me to start dropping names like Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan on those islands until every authority and enemy of yours in a 100 mile radius is crawling all over them searching for Jason?"

Incensed Sonny moved closer. "Are you trying to threaten me?"

"I'm not trying anything," Nikolas corrected his voice as cold as Sonny's was angry. "And if you have any idea about ordering that mountain outside to make me shut up you might as well erase it now. I'm well prepared for this. I've documented everything that has happened these last few weeks, including your involvement. People like Taggert and the Feds will find it very interesting reading believe me."

It wasn't often that he underestimated people, but he had definitely underestimated Nikolas. All those long ago warnings he'd heard from Luke about how diabolical the Cassadine's were, came back to him just a little too late. In spite of himself he couldn't help the modicum of respect he felt over Nikolas' actions.

As bluffs went, Nikolas thought it was a pretty good one, and kept his face calm as he waited to see if Sonny bought it.

"Johnny, Max." Sonny bellowed and the doors on either side of the room opened to admit the respective guards. "Give me your sat phone Johnny."

Puzzled Johnny handed it over.

"Here," Sonny shoved the phone in Max's hands. "You're accompanying Mr. Cassadine."

"Where am I going?" Nikolas asked.

"The island and beyond. You'll find your crazy father and Max will take care of him. We'll keep you informed of our progress and you'll keep us informed as well." Sonny snapped angrily.

Nikolas nodded knowing better than to speak.

"Your father has a day's head start on you so you better move your ass." Sonny focused on Max and lowered his voice when Nikolas stepped away to make a call. "Keep a close eye on him," he paused for a beat before going on grumpily. "While you're at it, keep him alive."

Max nodded his eyes focusing on the Cassadine Prince who had just become his charge.

"We need to get airborne, Johnny will call you and fill you in on the details we have so far." Sonny called out instructions not really caring if Nikolas was listening or not and moved towards the door.

"Thanks Sonny."

Pausing at the door Sonny turned around and grinned a little nastily. "I'm sending you to the Devil Nikolas. You shouldn't thank me for it."

Chilled more so by the grin than the words Nikolas didn't know how to reply.

****

~Trail~

Manny collapsed back on the ground caught off-guard by the unexpected weight of his attacker. Puzzled he worked up enough strength to push the man off of him and over to the side. Sitting up gingerly, the gaping hole in the back of the man's head quickly explained to Manny what had happened to him. Pushing the body the rest of the way off, Manny began the laborious process of getting to his feet.

"Francis?" Manny looked around expecting the older man to come out of the bushes with a blistering lecture on his lips. But Francis remained stubbornly absent.

Pulling the gun from the man's lifeless fingers Manny continued to scan the area. Francis should have alerted him to his position by now. Unless, his hand tightened on the gun, unless Francis wasn't the one who had saved him. But if he wasn't the one then who did? And why?

~*~*~

Stavros hummed softly under his breath, keeping the sights of his gun trained on Manny who was searching the area.

The gun in his hand pleased him. It wasn't the specially crafted colt that he'd had made especially for him years ago, but it fit his hand well, and the kick was minimal. He also approved of the power he realized with a smile. He'd taken the man down with one shot. The specialized load of the ammunition also left a larger than normal hole in the victim. He'd always been fond of larger than life things.

He was pleased to note that he hadn't lost his knack for killing. Of course he never really thought he had. Killing was a craft he'd been honing since he was 12 and killed his first. He had a vague recollection of the slovenly stable hand that had missed the warning signs of distemper in his favorite stallion. His punishment killing of the stable hand had been his first kill but certainly not his last.

Humming again he kept the gun on Manny who was relieving the weapons from the slain man before moving away. Debating Stavros wondered if he should take him out now or wait until later. Before he could make up his mind Manny disappeared into the bushes.

Reluctantly pocketing the gun Stavros began to move again. It was for the best he always enjoyed the hunt almost as much as he enjoyed the kill.

****

~Cliff~

"Drop the gun." The order sounded again.

He could spin, firing the gun at the same time hopefully hitting the man without getting hit himself. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he banished it. This was real life not one of those larger than life brainless action flicks that Johnny seemed to live on. As such Jason reluctantly dropped the gun.

"Put your hands on your head and turn around nice and slow."

Jason complied turning until he focused on the man holding the gun. This one was at least 7 feet away and was showing no inclination to move forward. The diminutive man's hand shook as he pointed the gun at Jason and he felt uneasy. Unlike the unconscious and much larger man on the ground this one was decidedly nervous, and that made Jason nervous. Shaking fingers against a trigger were never a comforting sight. 

"Just take it easy," Jason murmured quietly.

"You be quiet," the man stammered back before looking at his partner on the ground. "Jorge wake up."

As soon as the man's eyes left him Jason inched closer. 

Catching the movement from the corner of his eye, the man focused on Jason again. "Don't move."

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "You might want to check on your friend, he doesn't look so good."

The gun wavered then shifted slightly as he looked at his friend on the ground again. "Jorge?"

Again Jason took advantage of the man's inattention by moving closer.

The man holding the gun was torn and that wasn't good. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Jorge had said all he would have to do was walk around the island with a gun and wave it at the workers to keep them in line. He wasn't supposed to have to fire it, he wasn't supposed to chase people and shoot at them with it. And now Jorge was on the ground and the tall gringo who put him there looked like he could break him in two without much effort. In spite of the fact that he was the one holding the gun he felt intimidated. "Jorge," he pleaded with his cousin to wake up.

His attention was diverted too long and Jason took advantage diving the few yards separating them and driving them both back into the bushes. The man he'd hit immediately dropped the gun and began screaming, begging him not to hurt him. In frustration Jason brought his elbow up catching the simpering man under the chin. Jason watched the man's eyes roll back in his head before passing out. 

Barely resisting the impulse to hit the man again out of sheer frustration for delaying him. Jason got to his feet and moved towards the gun on the ground. Picking it up he moved to the cliff and scanned the water below. Frowning slightly when he didn't see Elizabeth he had to remind himself that she was probably directly beneath him clinging to the cliff like he'd told her too.

Jogging back a few steps he paused long enough to survey the bushes behind him, he was tired of being caught off-guard. Seeing no one he took off for the edge of the cliff in a dead run. Keeping the gun held high over his head he jumped for the water below.

****

~Fire Trail~

Jessica became aware that she was still alive merely because of the throbbing in her temples. At that precise moment she would rather take death. Groaning, her eyes fluttered open, only to close again when her feet began to spin dizzily. Pushing back from the dash she kept her eyes closed until the strange sensation of vertigo passed. The buzzing in her ears gradually faded and she became aware of another noise. Forcing her eyes open she focused on Hawk who was unconscious, his head on the steering wheel, blaring the horn.

Temporarily forgetting her own aches Jessica focused on her companion. "Hawk?" Checking for a pulse she was ridiculously relieved when she found it. Uncomfortable with that she eased his head off the wheel and back against the headrest, blessing the silence that occurred at her move. His angelic face was smooth and clean of bruises, except for a small red mark just under the hairline on his temple. It figured he was the only person who could come out of a head on crash looking better than when he went into it.

Her attention shifted beyond him when she heard the sounds of someone approaching through the bushes beyond. Pulling the gun free of Hawk's holster she leaned over him until she was resting her head on his chest. Jerking her head, so her hair fell over her eyes partially shielding her face, her hand tightened on the gun. Watching through the strands of her hair she played possum and waited for the bushes to move again and tell her where the visitor was coming from.

****

~Bushes~

Francis picked his way carefully through the underbrush, his eyes continually searching for the hidden snares and traps that he knew were liberally littered throughout the island. He had particularly vivid memories of this part of the island and the pits he'd been made to dig here, and he quickly banished them. Life on this island had been a particular brand of hell that he'd love to forget especially the last days of it.

Manny had disappeared quite some time ago. He knew he should have gone back for him the moment he'd realized that Manny wasn't behind him, but the sound of gunfire had been so close, he'd been compelled to keep going. By the time the sound of gunfire had faded Manny had been left far behind.

Francis had the advantage in the fact he knew the island like the back of his hand. He had to believe that Manny had learned enough, and was good enough to keep alive on his own until Francis could get back to him.

Knowing he was close to where the final shots had come from Francis slowed his pace even more. Checking his gun carefully, Francis flicked off the safety. Moving stealthily through the bush and trying to avoid the leaves that would give his presence away, he neared the edge of the bushes, preparing to move out into the clearing.

****

~Water~

Jason hit the water hard and immediately kicked his way to the surface, trying to get the gun out of the water as fast as possible. Breaking the surface he blinked the water out of his eyes and turned his head looking for Elizabeth.

But she wasn't there.

Frowning Jason moved his arms keeping himself afloat while scanning the shoreline expecting to see a familiar brown-haired woman giving him the glare she seemed to have perfected in the past couple of days.

But she still wasn't there.

"Elizabeth?" Trying not to be heard he called out her name quietly while beginning to swim towards the cliff. Maybe there was a cave. A cave that he couldn't see and she was hiding inside of it. Within a few strokes he knew that wasn't the case.

"Elizabeth?" He called again a little louder this time.

There was still no answer.

Fear. It wasn't an emotion he was familiar with so it took a minute for him to identify the emotion that was clogging his throat. His focus shifted to the clear water surrounding him.

Not caring who heard him he screamed her name, throwing the gun he once thought was so important away, Jason dove under the surface of the water. The sun streaming through the water gave him plenty of light and he used it to search the depths for her.

Moving frantically through the water Jason searched, hoping to find her, and at the same time hoping he wouldn't. He had taken too long. His lungs were already burning for air. If she had been underwater this whole time that would mean she was dead. Shaking his head Jason broke the surface gasping for air.

__

I promise you I won't leave you alone.

Rocked by the memory of his vow Jason dove under the water again desperate to find her. The water soon stilled, waiting for the latest emergence. But when Jason finally did emerge again, he was alone.


	10. Trapped in the movie Speed

****

Babble: Well it is now official, you are as caught up as me with this story, since the next chapter has yet to be written. So please let me know what you think should happen next.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

One of Those Days

Part X

****

~Water~

Jason dove under the surface repeatedly, always searching, and always, in the end, coming up empty. Feeling the ache settle in his muscles, the pain in his sides every time he tried to take a breath, indicated he would soon begin to hyperventilate, yet he still couldn't stop looking. If he stopped looking then he would have to admit something that was incomprehensible to him.

That Elizabeth was dead.

Down he went again, searching the rocks that littered the bottom of the water, and still he found nothing. Surfacing again Jason turned shadowed eyes on the clear blue sky above him. A faint breeze rippled the water brushing his face. His fists were clenched and were desperate to unload on someone, anyone. Anything to stop the pain and fear he was feeling.

Readying himself to dive again Jason stopped abruptly when a faint sound reached his ear. Kicking his feet to remain above water he listened hard desperate to hear it again so he could pinpoint the origin. The wind changed and sound drifted to him again.

He'd always been a literal man. He'd had to be. He rarely dreamed, he didn't have the capability or patience to imagine. He believed in what he could see, what he could feel, that was what was real to him. Faith was not a concept that had much play in his life. But at that moment he made himself believe.

Surging forward, his strong arms and powerful kick propelled him quickly through the water. Moving with the weak current Jason moved out from beneath the base of the cliff and the slight pooling of water that had formed a mini-lake and moved out into the river. Realistically he knew that the current was much too weak to have pulled Elizabeth from the mini-lake into the faster moving river. Even if she had been unconscious it was unlikely that she could have been carried that far.

But that unfamiliar emotion called faith had him by the throat and he was willing to trust enough to believe that, that was what had occurred. Keeping his strokes steady he moved into the current chasing the elusive noise that filtered to him on the wind.

****

~Fire Trail~

Jessica's breathing was nice and easy her body relaxed, giving every illusion of being dead to the world, it was a perfect illusion, except for, however, her firm grip on the gun. Cocking the hammer back and putting the gun in firing position Jessica waited for the next move to be made.

The rustling sound came again drawing her focus on a clump of bushes about 10 feet from the disabled jeep. Hawk's heartbeat remained strong and steady under her ear and for that she was grateful. The steady beat indicated that his head wound wasn't serious and he'd wakeup eventually. Given their current predicament she couldn't help but hope he stayed unconscious a little while longer.

The noise came again and Jessica barely breathed, every instinct on full alert. When a deer emerged from the bushes she all but screamed in relief. Not bothering to stop the groan Jessica closed her eyes, and without thinking, buried her face into Hawk's chest.

Pulling back abruptly when she realized what she was doing Jessica frowned in censure and brought a hand up to check the mark on his forehead. She ran a finger lightly over the wound, then shifted abruptly and hit him in the back of the head.

"W-What?" Hawk jolted alert. "What happened?"

"Nice try hotshot, I know you were awake long before now so cut the act," Jessica informed him icily.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hawk replied grumpily, shifting in his seat he checked his forehead in the rearview mirror.

"Your heart rate spiked a few minutes ago indicating your wakefulness," she leveled a glare at him, tapping his gun on her thigh, and waited.

"You know sweetheart," he drawled grinning in her direction. "Any man's heart rate would spike if they woke up with you draped all over him."

"Why do I even bother?" Jessica wondered aloud and crawled out of the jeep.

Hawk moved out of the jeep a little slower, cautiously checking how his head would react to the movement. The pounding behind his eyes, more than the loss of consciousness told him, that the injury was more than just a bump on the head. Catching sight of his frowning boss he took another breath to prepare himself before joining her. When jousting with his boss he had to be functioning on all cylinders, or she'd ride roughshod all over him.

"So where do you think the shooters have gone?" Hawk asked when he joined her in front of the jeep.

Shrugging Jessica worked on the kinks in her neck. "Does it matter? I don't think we want to be here when they decide to check on us." She pointed to the grille of the jeep that was seemingly embedded in the tree. "Do you think we can free it?"

His eyes moved from the jeep to her. "You mean you're asking my opinion?"

"Brawn," she pointed to the jeep and then squeezed the muscle in his arm. "It's the only reason I work with men."

Hawk whistled under his breath. "Remind me to find Anton when this is all over with and kick his ass."

Perplexed Jess looked at him. "Why?"

"He obviously didn't do a good enough job on relieving your sexual frustration."

Barely restraining the urge to hit him, Jessica's hand tightened on the gun she still carried in her hand.

Knowing how lethal his boss could be and realizing that he'd probably pushed her as far as he should while she was armed, Hawk focused on the Hummer again. "We could probably free it but I think it will take too long. Besides we drew a lot of attention in this baby, we're probably better off on foot."

"I agree, let's grab our stuff before someone finds us." She took a step only to come up short when he touched her arm. Coolly arching a brow she looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Can I have my gun?" He inched closer. "Or do you just want to play with my power some more?"

This time she couldn't stop the grin and soon a matching dimpled smile appeared on his face. "Here," she shoved the gun in his hand and moved to the jeep. "Sometimes I feel like I'm your babysitter not your boss."

Ever the flirt Hawk wasn't about to let that remark slide. "Anytime you want to tuck me into bed, I'm willing."

Sliding back into the teasing, bickering relationship they had was second skin to her and Jessica didn't even bother to turn around, she merely brought her elbow back hard, catching him in the ribs. "I'm sure you say that to every female you meet. And as tempting as that offer is, I'll pass, as usual."

Grinning he stepped back to let her pass before reaching in the back of the jeep and grabbing his bag. She always said that and certainly acted like she wasn't interested in him. But she had a healthy interest in his love life, and also enjoyed brushing against him whenever she could. Smirking to himself he couldn't help but believe she was more affected then she let on.

****

~Bushes~

Francis stepped cautiously out of the bushes, spying the two unconscious men on the ground immediately, his grip changed on the gun and his eyes sharpened on the area around the men. Keeping the gun trained on the main closest to him he moved forward until he could check the man for a pulse.

Finding it immediately Francis shifted his focus onto the larger man. Even from where he was crouching the man's labored breathing was audible. Spying the empty holsters on both men, he began searching the ground for the weapons. His intent shifted when he saw the footprints.

Getting to his feet Francis moved to study the prints left in the soft earth. A quick scan of the unconscious men, showed that they hadn't made all of the prints. Both men were wearing hiking boots and the most dominant print that was visible came from boots, motorcycle boots. Boots like the kind Jason always wore.

Manny would have argued that Jason wasn't the only person in the world who wore motorcycle boots, and he'd be right. Crouching beside a particularly well-defined print, the first smile all day drifted over Francis' features, taking years off his face. Many people wore motorcycle boots, but not all of them had a slight nick in the heel of the boot. A nick that left a distinguishing mark with each step the owner took. He had seen that mark before. He could remember vividly, a particularly rainy night Jason and him had spent tracking a courier of Sonny's through the mud to get back a missing shipment.

His hunch was right, Jason was on this island, and he was alive, or at least he had been no more than 20 minutes ago when the last of the gunshots had sounded. Francis' focus fell on the prints again and he began to frown, as he followed the path of the prints to the edge of the cliff.

"Jason tell me you weren't that stupid," Francis muttered under his breath, moving towards the cliff. Looking over it his eyes searched the water far below.

Shaking his head he turned around to study the scene again, his attention was then caught by a moan coming from the men. Moving towards them quickly he couldn't help but hope it was the smaller man who was waking up, and for once, luck was with him.

"Ohhh…" the diminutive man groaned. To Hector it felt like his jaw was on fire. Keeping his eyes closed he brought his hand up to check his jaw. He wouldn't have been surprised to find it shoved up past his nose. But the jaw was there where it was supposed to be. As long as he never spoke, or breathed through his mouth again, he thought he might be able to live with the pain.

"Wakey, wakey," Francis ordered, lightly slapping the man on the cheeks.

Screaming in pain Hector's eyes flew open. Closing them immediately he tried to slip back into unconsciousness, but the man who was slapping him wouldn't let that happen. Moaning he shook his head and tried to speak. "It hurts."

"I'll make you a deal," Francis offered. "You answer my questions and I'll make unconscious again."

Hector's eyes flew open.

"Good now that I have your attention." Knowing the gun wouldn't be necessary Francis set it on the ground next to him. Relaxing slightly he kept one eye on the other man who was still unconscious. "Where's the man who did this to you?"

Hector's eyes darted around the small clearing then he shrugged.

"Okay," Francis pulled a picture from his pocket. "Is this the man?" 

The question proved to be unnecessary. The man took one look at the photo and began to shake in fear. And even though Francis had known Jason was alive, having it confirmed with a nod of the man's head, still made him feel relieved.

"Did you shoot him?" Francis asked.

Hector's mouth dropped open in shock and he almost passed out in pain. Francis steadied the man before he could fall back to the ground.

Francis hesitated a long time before asking the next question. He already knew the answer, so there was no point in even asking it. There had only been one parachute seen, and Jason was confirmed as being on the island. There were no other footprints on the ground besides Jason's and the men chasing him. But like he had to ask the man to identify Jason, he still had to ask the question. "Was there anyone with him?"

Hector immediately shook his head no. He'd been taking a piss when Jorge had spotted the intruder. The whole chase the only person he'd seen was the tall gringo. He shuddered to think what would have happened to him if the gringo hadn't been alone.

Closing his eyes Francis lost what little hope he had left. Reacting without thought, he swung out sending the man into unconsciousness again. Getting to his feet he moved back to the cliff to search the water. He hadn't seen any blood on the ground. He could see the spent bullet casings on the ground near the edge, but again his focus was on the footprints. He wasn't positive, but all the evidence that he could see pointed to the fact that Jason had ran to the edge and jumped over the cliff.

There was no reason to explain why Jason would have done this, unless there had been someone else chasing him. Moving back to the men, Francis pulled a beat-up walkie-talkie from the belt of the larger man. If Jason had made it to the water, he'd better get out of it as soon as he could. If he didn't, shrugging Francis began moving back in the direction he'd come from. Jason had no idea what he was in for if he didn't

****

~Shore~

Jason moved along the shoreline as quickly and quietly as he could although he probably didn't have to worry about being quiet. The raft he was shadowing with it's two loud occupants probably wouldn't have heard him if he had been chasing them on his Harley. His focus was trained on the raft, or more particularly on the pale hand hanging over the side of the raft that was barely visible.

The fingers on the hand had never moved, the hand never moved, but Jason couldn't take his eyes off of it. Since finding the raft and seeing the hand hanging over the side, that little kernel of unfamiliar belief inside of him began to grow.

The men brought the raft to a halt, bringing it to a partially destroyed dock on his side of the river. One of the men leaped free to tie the rope off on an old post, then headed to the shore, his partner soon followed. Jason observed them for another minute before moving back into the bushes.

Backtracking to a bend in the river Jason made sure he was out of their line of sight before easing back into the river. Moving out to the middle of the river he took a deep breath and submerged. Keeping underwater he moved in the fast moving current, picking up speed as he went. Surfacing slightly to gauge his distance, he began working against the current and swam until he emerged on the far side of the rubber raft, out of sight of the men on the beach.

Taking a chance he rocked higher out of the water to see where they were, noting they were still distracted he quickly powered himself out of the water and into the bottom of the raft. The raft was narrow, Elizabeth filled most of the space. Coming down hard on her, he began to worry when she didn't move or moan in reaction to his weight. Tensing he brought some of his weight off of her frame, trying not to squash her and listened hard for any sounds from the shore. But the only sound he heard was their laughter.

Easing slightly to the side, he brought his hand up to check her pulse. His hand had barely touched her neck when her fist connected hard with his nose. Caught off-guard he fell back. The stinging in his nose caused his eyes to shock. The shock of her unexpected move faded quickly and he caught her fist before she could swing again.

Seeing the signs of panic he moved quickly pressing his weight down on her and covered her mouth with his free hand. Her eyes flew open and he could see the anger and fear in them but no recognition. 

"Elizabeth." Jason whispered in her face and held her down as gently as he could until her struggles stopped and the fear faded from her eyes. "I'm going to take my hand away. But I need you to be quiet. Those men are still nearby." He explained in whispers and when she nodded he took his hand away.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked.

"Where were you?" Elizabeth hissed, her hands balling into fists again.

"Yell at me later." Jason risked a look over the side of the raft. "Right now we need to get out of here."

Trying hard to swallow the fear she was feeling Elizabeth nodded and tried to obey. Taking the first easy breath since she'd awakened from hell into a nightmare, she focused on what Jason was doing. Her eyes didn't even widen when she saw the now familiar knife in his hand. She was beginning to believe that the knife was surgically attached to his palm.

"When I cut the rope we'll start to drift with the current. Keep down and try not to move, hopefully they won't see what is happening until it's too late for them to swim out and stop us." Jason explained as quietly as he could.

"Okay," Elizabeth whispered back, relieved that he wasn't going to attack the men with his knife.

"Put your hand back up on the side of the raft where it was." Jason ordered and when she didn't comply immediately he moved it himself. "Keep it limp, just like you did when you were faking before. I don't want them to know you're awake."

Elizabeth watched as Jason took another breath before positioning himself on the side of the raft, keeping his body between hers and the shoreline. His head was just a little below the arm that was hanging over the side of the raft, and he began sawing on the thick rope.

"Jason."

"Shh."

"But Jason…"

"You have to be quiet." Jason jolted in surprise when a large Bowie knife appeared next to his face. His eyes moved from the knife to Elizabeth whose eyes were narrowed in anger.

"It might be quicker if you used this," she whispered sweetly.

Taking the knife from her cautiously Jason nodded. His nose still stinging where she had decked him, he was relieved that she had chosen to use her fist instead of the knife she'd obviously found. When the blade cut the thick rope after one slice and he was even more relieved.

The raft began to move and Jason tried to shift his thoughts from Elizabeth to the delicate matter ahead. This was the trickiest part. If the men spotted the raft too soon, they could swim out to catch it. If that happened, he could only hope the men would leave the guns onshore. If they didn't it could get a little hairy.

In spite of his best intention his eyes sought out Elizabeth and his breathing grew easier. He'd been so terrified that he would never see her again, that even in this dicey situation, he loved looking at her. Her expression was calm, her eyes locked on his. He'd almost believe she was relaxed, except for the quick rise and fall of her chest, as her breathing spiked, no doubt in fear. 

Her latest dunking in the water seemed to have shrunk her sweater even more and it exposed the flat pale skin of her stomach. The sweater clung to her like a second skin and he was a bastard to be thinking about, and noticing the way her breasts moved with every breath she took. She was breathing hard because she was afraid and he was busy remembering a time she'd breathed hard because she was aroused. 

Jason wasn't used to feeling so many conflicting emotions at once and he wasn't exactly comfortable with either them, or his thoughts. He needed to concentrate on something else, something he knew how to handle, something…

A cry from the shore distracted him from his thoughts and his grip tightened on the hilt of the knife. Elizabeth didn't move, her hand remained limp over the side just like he'd told her. The sound of splashing water reached his ears and Jason tensed. He really didn't want to kill anyone, especially not in front of Elizabeth, but he may have no choice.

"Close your eyes," he whispered sharply as the sounds of splashing drew closer.

Shaking her head Elizabeth's eyes remained stubbornly open.

Elizabeth knew why he wanted her to close her eyes. She could hear the sounds of the pursuit and she knew what would happen when their pursuer reached the raft. He'd more than likely think that the raft had merely slipped free of the dock. With her position seemingly unchanged he would have no reason to believe she was awake, or that there was someone on the raft with her.

So when he reached the raft he'd probably try to pull himself inside of it and use the paddles to get back to the dock, instead of just pulling the raft by the rope. When that happened Jason would stab him. Oh there was a chance that Jason might just hit him tying to knock him out, but that was a slim chance. Jason wouldn't risk her safety and that's what he'd be doing if he didn't knock the man out immediately.

More than likely what would occur would be quite simple. The man would grab the edge of the raft to leverage himself inside the raft, and when he did that Jason would stick him with the knife. She didn't want that to happen. She had no desire to see anyone die, much less have Jason be the one doing the killing in order to protect her. And yet that was the precise reason she couldn't close her eyes and look away. He would be killing for her and she would never condemn or blame him for that.

The logical part of her brain reminded her that this was probably what Jason would do even if she weren't with him. But that part was easily ignored. She was here and she knew without a doubt that Jason would do anything to protect her. Even if he was a little late at times, she still knew that.

The raft picked up speed and a slight exclamation escaped her lips in spite of her vow to the contrary when it hit something. Expecting to see their pursuer Elizabeth was confused when she realized the jolt had come from the opposite side of the raft. Before she could question it, there was another jolt and then another.

Seeing Jason move and guessing his intent she reached out and shoved his head down while she sat up herself. She was supposed to be on the boat while he wasn't. They needed to keep that misconception going for as long as possible.

Looking back the way they came she didn't see their pursuer anywhere, turning to look ahead her mouth dropped open in surprise. The hand that had been holding Jason's head down, now yanked hard on his hair trying to pull him up. "Jason."

"What?" Shifting to his knees he tried to see what had her so panicked. "Oh man," he muttered when he saw the rapids they were rapidly approaching.

"You've got to be kidding me," Elizabeth yelled in disbelief. "I feel like I'm trapped in the movie Speed, I'm Annie and your Jack, and I have no idea who Dennis Hopper is."

"What?" Shaking the question off Jason picked up one of the paddles and moved towards the front of the raft. "Stay in the middle of the raft and hold on. Try to find a life preserver if you can."

"And to think I once wanted to go white water rafting," she grumbled. Her hand curled around a rope that ran the length of the raft. "Jason I have to warn you, now isn't a good time for us to go swimming."

"Why?" Jason barely even heard her comment his focus on the approaching rocks.

"Because my feet are tied. Whether I find a life preserver or not, I'll sink," Elizabeth gestured to the rope around her ankles when he turned to look. "You better keep us upright."

Frowning Jason focused on the rocks again. Things had just gotten a hell of a lot trickier.

****

~The Four Seasons~

"Benny why are we in a hotel? I said I wanted to go directly to Unique Services."

"Unique Unlimited," Johnny absently corrected his boss.

"Why?" Sonny shot his guard a quelling stare and Johnny began to move about the spacious suite they were in.

"You also said you wanted me to find a hammer we could use on Unique," Benny calmly reminded his excitable boss. "I don't have one yet."

"Benny."

"Sonny," refusing to be intimidated Benny got to his feet and paced away from his laptop. "Unique is a sole-proprietorship. The owner might as well be a ghost, all I have on her is a name. Margaretha Geetruida Zelle, if you can believe that. I can't even find a picture of her."

"Why do I know that name?" Johnny muttered mainly to himself.

"The company is 8 years old, it doesn't have any outstanding loans, they've been operating at a high rate of profit since their second month. Their security is the best I've ever encountered. I can't even get a confirmed list of current employees much less ex-employees. She runs a tight ship. If our organization ran like this we'd never have a leak or a traitor problem. This Zelle woman knows what she's doing."

"I swear I've heard that name before." Johnny dropped into Benny's vacated seat when Sonny shot him a death glare. "Or maybe not."

"I don't want to hear that Benny." Ignoring his guard Sonny moved to get himself a drink. He seemed to think better when he held a glass in his hand. He hated to think of it as a weakness, although he knew that's how most would perceive it. Except for Jason that is. Frowning at the bitter liquid he'd just poured Sonny moved away from the glass. "We need something we can use if we want to find out who wanted Jason and why."

"I know that and I'm trying," Benny picked up the glass his boss didn't seem to want and swallowed some of the fiery liquid. "Unique is clean Sonny. I can't even pick up a whisper on the owner, unless it's a job offer. All I can tell you is that she's white, she's between 25 and 35, and anywhere between 5'7" and 5'9". I can't even tell you what color of hair or eyes she has, or even what nationality she is, because no one has any pictures of her. She alters her appearance the way some people change their hair color. She's the best example of a human chameleon I've ever come across." Benny's shoulders slumped in defeat. This was the first time he'd ever failed his boss. And with Jason's life on the line he'd picked the worst possible moment to fail. "It's like she doesn't even exist."

"Of course she doesn't exist." Johnny all but crowed in triumph and had both men turning on him in surprise. "She's been dead for almost 85 years."

****

~Airport~

Nikolas couldn't help but be impressed, they'd breezed through customs in half the normal time. He had a feeling it was due more to the Mountain he was traveling with and his boss, than it was his obscure royal lineage. The Custom's agent's eye's had nearly doubled in shock when they went through the line. He had a feeling the man was already spending the money he was no doubt bribed with, in his mind. 

Moving briskly to the waiting Jeep, Nikolas got inside and waited for his companion to do the same, but the man made no move to get in the vehicle. "What's wrong now?"

Max ignored him, his focus on the reflective windows of the doors behind him.

"You know if you continue not speaking this is going to be a real long trip," Nikolas remarked caustically. The Mountain had barely even grunted in his direction the whole plane ride down here. Nikolas didn't mind a little silence, but 5 hours of silence was enough, even for him.

"Wait here." Max ordered abruptly then disappeared back into the terminal.

"What?" Giving up when he realized he was talking to himself Nikolas settled back in the jeep. He couldn't believe he was doing this. This sort of adventure was the kind that Lucky used to tell him that Luke and Laura had gone on all the time. But it wasn't something that he ever thought he would be undertaking himself. He couldn't help but wish that Lucky were here, with him, in this mess. But if Lucky were here there would be no need for them to be here at all. The only reason Elizabeth had ever wound up on this island was because of their plan to help Lucky.

Surprised when the jeep began to rock and his companion climbed inside, Nikolas turned tired eyes on his silent companion. "What was all that about?"

"I thought someone was following us," Max explained briefly.

Nikolas waited but the Mountain merely turned on the jeep and pulled out into the fast moving late day traffic. "And?" He finally prompted.

"I guess I was wrong."

Taking a breath Nikolas tried to center himself and find his Chi the way his uncle had always taught him to do. "Where are we going?"

"The docks."

"Why?"

"To catch a seaplane."

"You know this is going to take a very long time if you don't start answering my questions with a little more detail," Nikolas pointed out in what he hoped was a calm voice.

Max shrugged.

"Look if there is a chance that Elizabeth never got on that plane we need to take that and search this island."

"She was on the plane."

"You don't know that for sure," Nikolas argued a bit desperately. "Until we know for sure I think we should search this island for her."

Max brought the jeep to a halt in the middle of the road and ignored the immediate blaring of horns coming from directly behind him. "We found out that a man fitting your father's description rented a seaplane and followed Francis and Manny to the island chain that we think Jason landed on. I was informed that your goal in this was to stop your father before he could kill anyone. To do that we need to get on a plane and follow him, unless you think your father is wrong."

"Jason wasn't the survivor Elizabeth was," Nikolas corrected the guard immediately. If he had to believe she was on the plane, he was going to believe that she was the one that was alive.

Max didn't even blink he merely waited.

"Fine we'll take the seaplane, but if we don't find anything we are coming back here and searching this entire island until we find Elizabeth." Nikolas conceded sharply.

Turning his attention back to the road, Max began to hum under his breath as he put the jeep in motion.

Nikolas almost groaned when he recognized the song. _La Vida Loca_ by Ricky Martin, a song that Emily used to bombard him with in order to torture him at L&B. This was going to be a long trip.

~*~*~

"So do you want me to keep following them?" The Cabbie asked when the traffic began moving again.

"Yes, and whatever you do don't let them see you," came the reply from deep in the backseat where his passenger was hiding.

Sighing under his breath the Cabbie did as he was ordered. Between the creepy fare last night and now this one, he was thinking it was time to find a new line of work.

****

~Fire Trail~

Manny emerged from the bushes and took a careful look around before moving closer to the Hummer. Placing a hand on the hood, he could feel some residual heat coming from the engine. Whoever had rammed it into the tree limb in the middle of the road hadn't left that long ago. Fingering the bullet holes in the hood a little thoughtfully he wondered where the occupants had went, and if they had went voluntarily or not.

Tucking the gun back in his holster he squatted by the grille to see if it could be detached from the tree. When given the choice between walking and riding he'd always choose riding. Especially since he'd just about fell in 3 traps that were hidden in the trail on the way up here. Bullet-ridden or not, the Hummer had to be safer than walking on the ground. Wrapping his arms around the limb as best he could Manny tugged as hard as he could trying to move the tree limb. But the limb never moved.

Changing his focus he moved to the Hummer and got in, the vehicle started right off, and Manny put it in gear trying to back it off the limb. The engine gave a loud roar, the wheels began to turn and the vehicle began to shimmy, but in the end it went nowhere. Taking his foot off the gas Manny waited a minute before trying again. This time the engine began to whine and the smell of burning came from either the engine or the tires, yet he still kept his foot on the gas.

The Hummer violently pulled itself free of the limb and took off several yards in reverse. Caught off-guard Manny fought to control the wheel and took his foot off the clutch killing the engine immediately.

"Do you think you could be any louder?"

The quiet question coming from right next to him startled Manny so much he began to curse, any thoughts of reaching for his gun went completely out of his head. Risking a glance he knew why he wasn't dead. "Francis?"

"Jesus Manny I know I trained you better than this. You were so busy trying to move this beast an entire army could have snuck up on you and you never would have heard them. You shouldered your gun instead of keeping it out where you could grab it easily, you didn't move when you heard my voice," Francis lectured. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Let me know I'll be happy to do it for you if you are."

"Enough with the lectures Carny," Manny grumped but the grin on his face gave away the relief he was feeling at seeing his friend again. "Where did you disappear to?"

"I was tracking the shots. I told you to keep up," Francis stepped back to look at the Hummer. "I suppose you want to take this from now on?"

Manny gave his best puppydog look, the one that always worked on his sister.

Sighing Francis moved towards the front. "We need to move the tree out of the way. We have to stick to this road. It's the only one that runs parallel to the river."

Moving gingerly Manny joined Francis. "Why is that so important? I thought you said we had to go inland."

"I found out that Jason is on the island and judging from the evidence I saw I think he's in the river. We need to head him off. Grab the other end," he ordered before picking up his side of the tree.

Thrilled with the news Manny made no move to pick up his end. "This mean that you were right all along then, Jason is alive. This is fabulous news. Wait until Mr. Corinthos finds out he's going to be so happy."

Setting the tree down with a slam Francis looked over to Manny with weary eyes. "It also means that Elizabeth is dead."

Sobering Manny shuffled his feet, he'd only met Elizabeth Webber once so he didn't feel the personal loss that Francis obviously did, but that didn't mean he didn't hate the fact she was dead. He'd just forgotten about her being on the plane. "Fran…"

Cutting off the apology Francis bent over the tree again. "We need to move this out of the way and get moving. Jason needs to get off the river as soon as he can."

Bending Manny tried to get a grip on his side of the limb, his ribs screamed loudly in protest, and he knew one of them was probably broken, but he made no sound. And when Francis said to lift he lifted the limb in spite of the pain.

****

~The River~

"I don't believe it. We made it," her eyes sparkling in adrenaline and joy, Elizabeth all but glowed. "We have got to do that again."

Jason wearily slumped back against the side of the raft and eased his death grip on the paddle he'd been using to propel the raft away from the rocks. Closing his eyes at her words Jason merely groaned.

"Are you okay?" Shifting through the water that was in the raft until she was next to him Elizabeth reached out in concern.

Feeling her hand on his forehead he stayed where he was minute longer soaking up her warmth, before opening his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Okay," realizing she was still touching his face she dropped her hand and awkwardly shifted until she was sitting farther away from him.

Noting her withdrawal Jason felt a pang of loss. Taking advantage of the now calm river they were on he shifted until he was crouching at her feet, and reached for the knife she had found to cut the ropes off of her. "What happened?"

"When?" Needing a distraction to keep from herself from touching him Elizabeth pulled the backpack she was leaning against around so it was sitting on her lap and began to look inside.

"How did you end up in the boat?"

"When I hit the water I went down hard. Some reeds wrapped around my ankles and I couldn't get free. I figured you'd be right behind me so I didn't panic right away. But you never showed up." Her focus was on the bag so she didn't see the way he flinched at that remark. "I managed to free myself, but by then I could barely think, or move, I didn't see the point in trying to find the surface, I guess I gave up. The numbness was just so appealing to me. Hallelujah," she pulled out a tin of Altoids and quickly popped one in her mouth before handing the tin to Jason. "Fresh breath is a good thing."

Taking the tin from her, for a moment all he could do was stare at the tiny mints. The casual way she had described her giving up, and willingness to drown haunted him.

"Jason?" Elizabeth noticed his stillness and focused on him. "The mint?"

Taking one he handed the tin back to her. "What happened then?" He asked roughly, emotion making his voice, sound rougher than usual.

"I don't really know," thoughtful she tried to puzzle it out. "I remember just wanting to stay in the dark. Then the next thing I know I'm gagging because someone with onion breath is blowing air in my mouth. Let me tell you that was not a very pleasant way to wake up. They must have seen me in the water and got me out. I don't know," she went back to digging in the bag. "Those mints must not have been onion man's."

"Forget about the damn mints," Jason cried out suddenly surprising them both.

"Why are you so angry?" Elizabeth demanded. "I'm the one who should be angry not you. Where the hell were you? You promised me you would be right behind me, and yet the first time you were supposed to keep that promise you were nowhere to be found."

"I know I'm sorry," he tried hard to swallow his unreasonable anger. She was right he didn't have the right to be angry with her. "The men chasing us caught me on the cliff before I could jump. I jumped as quickly as I could, but obviously I was too late."

Anger didn't hold a chance in the face of his obvious guilt and the emotion fled. "Don't worry about it, we're together now. A little more water-logged than before but we're together." She deliberately didn't ask what had happened to the men on the cliff and both of them knew it.

"I am sorry," his eyes sought hers out.

"I know." Getting lost in his eyes was a risky proposition for her, and her self-preservation instincts kicked in just in time. Breaking the look she focused on the bag again. "Maybe the goon squad had food with them."

A little surprised by her withdrawal Jason swallowed the sigh and picked up the protective sheath for the bowie knife and slid the knife in it, before tucking both in his boot. Looking around for any other sort of weapons he saw none.

"Uh-oh," Elizabeth murmured.

"What?" He focused on her and almost groaned when she held out, what appeared to be, a brick sized bag of cocaine.

"Is that what I think it is?" She asked quietly.

"Probably we are on Dominguez's island after all." Taking the coke from her he didn't even hesitate, he just tossed it into the river. "Is there any more?"

"Yes," she held out two more bags and watched him send them both in the water. 

Soon the bag only held the box of mints, a blanket and a canteen that had been left in the bottom of the raft. Taking the backpack from her, Jason put it on.

"Who is Dominguez?"

"A man we don't want to meet if we can help it." Jason answered as briefly as he could.

"It would be worse for you if he knows who you are won't it?" Elizabeth asked with sudden insight.

Jason considered not answering her for a moment, in the end felt she had earned the right to know all they were up against. "Dominguez is an old enemy of Sonny's. If he knows I'm on the island, you're right things will only get worse."

"Can he recognize you on sight?"

"Yes."

"Can," she hesitated. "What about the men on the cliff?"

"They didn't recognize me, as far as they're concerned I'm just an intruder." Jason answered. "So it won't matter what they say."

"Good," her nod in relief turned into one of dismay when she realized something. "Are we moving faster again?"

"Yeah we are," growing concerned Jason shifted until he was looking forward again. "Oh shit."

****

~Fire Trail~

"Jesus Francis where's the fire?" Manny demanded when he crashed heavily into the door for the third time.

"I told you we need to get Jason off the river as soon as possible."

"Why? What is there some sea monster in its depths?" Manny asked.

"No worse," Francis replied shortly.

"What's worse than a sea monster?" Manny asked in curiosity.

****

~River~

"Is that what I think it is?" Elizabeth moved until she was beside him at the front of the raft.

"I think so." Tightening the straps of the backpack he focused on her. "Did you find a life preserver?"

"No." Was it was strange that she wasn't even surprised anymore? "Jason what the hell is a waterfall doing in the middle of a river?"

"I don't have time to answer that. We need to jump and swim for shore."

Frowning down at the swift moving current Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't think so."

"You'd rather go over the falls?" Jason asked shortly, taking her arm to move her to the side of the raft. "I'll be right with you the whole way."

"That's what you said last time," she reminded him bitterly. "And look how well that looked out."

"Elizabeth…" he began in a pained voice.

"Save it Jason I guess we're jumping." She looked over at the fast approaching falls. "Out of curiosity just how big of a drop are the falls?"

"I know there are two major waterfalls on the island. One is manageable probably only 30 - 40 feet," Jason broke off. "We need to jump now."

"What about the other waterfall?" Elizabeth demanded.

"It's a lot bigger." Jason answered finally.

"You do realize that with my luck, that this is the waterfall, you don't want to tell me about don't you?" Elizabeth cried.

"That's why you are going to swim harder than you've ever swum before and I'm going to be right there with you the entire time." He took her hands and squeezed them in reassurance. "Do you trust me?"

"Always." Sighing when he let go of one of her hands she focused on the water and readied herself to jump.

Noise exploded around them the instant they jumped. Surprise quickly turned to fear when she recognized the sleek silver missiles coming through the water towards her as bullets. Surfacing, she had time for a breath before Jason jerked hard on her hand pulling her under again. Swimming hard, he let go of her hand and she began fighting the current, trying to dodge the bullets, and make it to the shore. She felt rather than saw Jason right beside her, doing his best to shield her from the bullets, his comforting presence compelled her to move her tired arms through the water even harder.

The water around her suddenly turned red and caused her to stop in surprise, looking back she realized Jason was no longer right behind her, instead he was limp in the water. Reaching out she managed to grab the back of his shirt and dragged him to her. Surfacing briefly to take in air she tilted his head back so he could breathe as well. The sound of gunfire came again but she ignored it, and instead tried to keep her grip on Jason. Moving awkwardly, while keeping an arm around his neck, she tried to backstroke her way to the shore.

The attempts were proving futile, the current was moving far too fast. For every two feet she managed in the shoreline's direction they moved another five feet in the direction of the falls. Jason's dead weight was weighing her down but letting him go was never an option. Kicking desperately she tried to keep his back pressed to her chest and moving out of the current.

Without warning the current ripped Jason out of her arms and he began floating to the falls. Reacting instinctively Elizabeth swam after him, she managed to grab his arm right before he plunged over the falls taking her with him.


	11. She flies through the air with the great...

****

Babble: All the standard information is on the first part. This is an action adventure fic, that features Jason, Elizabeth, Sonny, Nikolas, Stavros, Francis, Johnny, Benny, Max, plus several of my own creations in leading roles. There will also be a lot of surprises and some familiar faces popping up here and there as I abuse the characters.

Yes I know it has been forever since I updated this piece, hell, since I updated almost any of my stories. Hopefully that slowness in updating will change soon and hopefully I still have readers of this fic on this board. For any of you who read my other work, and wonder if it will ever be updated, the answer is yes. All my stories, will be completed eventually, or when I win the lottery, whichever comes first.

Well without further ado please dive on in…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

One of Those Days

Part XI

~Free Falling~

__

She flew through the air with the greatest of ease, that brave little girl on the flying trapeze….

The only thing was, she wasn't brave, and this sure wasn't easy. Elizabeth was sick and tired of having her feet leave the ground with no concept of if they would ever return. The only good thing about this particular trip was the fact that she wasn't alone. Her grip on Jason's arm was tight and his weight was making them fall much faster than her weight alone would, and yet, it still felt like she had been hovering in mid air for hours now.

Abruptly and without warning the fall stopped and she hit the water harder than she had any other time in the last day. Her momentum propelled her so far down that the sun was just a tiny sliver of light somewhere far, far above her. Hitting the water as hard as she did made her lose her grip on Jason, but at that precise moment she couldn't even think about what that meant. Her main concern at the moment was how to get her suddenly deadened muscles to respond to her commands and move.

Pinprick needles of pain soon morphed into what felt like bombs ripping through her body with every move she made. Her mouth was open, yet the energy it would take to close it was lacking at the moment. Her body felt like it had been asleep and then woken up all at once by being jolted with 1,000 volts of electricity.

Finally, in spite of the pain, she began to move towards the dim piece of light miles above her. Closing her mouth she propelled herself through the water. Closer, and closer to her goal, she actually began to think she might make it when she caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye. Turning her head to see what it was, the only thing she saw at first was a large, dark shape. The black blob as defined by her oxygen deprived brain was moving in the opposite direction as she was, down to the bottom and she had already turned away when she realized that the blob was in fact Jason.

Lightheaded from lack of oxygen, her lungs didn't seem to be burning as badly as they once had, and even in her confusion she knew that wasn't a good sign for her continued well-being. Yet in that instant none of it mattered. Without giving it a moment's pause she turned and went after the descending Jason into the darkness of what seemed about to become their watery grave.

****

~Cliff~ 

"Well will you take a look at that? Someone's pet monkey is trying to escape." Hawk let out a long-low whistle startling the small man in the clearing.

"Who?" Hector broke off when a fiery bolt of pain ricocheted through his broken jaw. He glanced down at his still unconscious cousin. Why wouldn't Jorge wake up and stop all these people from hurting him? It was all Jorge's fault, he thought and gave the unconscious giant a kick to the shoulder.

"Temper, temper," Jessica tsked following Hawk into the clearing.

Hector's eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful blonde. He didn't think he'd mind if this one wanted to spank him, as long as the spanking was done in private and in the right area. He tried to smile and almost passed out at the foolhardy move.

"Ahhh Jess, Shorty here likes you," Hawk teased.

Moving past Hawk her boot happened to come down hard on his foot and he let out a hiss. "Well honey what happened to you?" 

Hawk rolled his eyes at the return of the Southern Belle with the fake honeyed concern dripping from each word she uttered and began scanning the area trying to make sense of what had happened there. There was a fight that much was obvious and somehow he didn't think it was between Shorty and the sleeping giant.

"Don't mind Bubba over there, he's a bit touched in the head," Jessica drew the man's focus back on her and ignored Hawk's expression. "He's never been right, but after all these years I'm used to him, after all it isn't his fault that he is the way he is, what with his parents being cousins and all, he was kind of doomed from the start don't you think?"

Hector gulped when the man in the question focused a cross-eyed stare at him. Would this day never end?

"Some people think I ought to feed him more than I do, but I like keeping him lean and just a bit hungry. It makes him meaner, and when he's mean no one will go after him," Jessica explained and watched the short man pale even more. "Oh don't worry sweetie," she patted his hand. "Bubba here never hurts anyone unless I want him too," she drawled in reassurance.

Closing his eyes Hector gave into temptation and kicked his sleeping cousin in the ribs, Jorge grunted but other than that didn't move.

"You know it looks to me like you ran into my boyfriend, or should I say my ex-boyfriend," Jessica drew his focus back on her. "He's around six foot, blonde spiky hair, blue jeans, t-shirt, and motorcycle boots?" The man flinched at her rundown of Jason Morgan and she knew she was on the right track.

"I've been looking for him for a few weeks now, if you want to know the truth, he's the reason I've been keeping Bubba here so hungry," Jessica lightly touched the man's swollen jaw. "Did he do this to you?"

Hector didn't want to answer, he didn't want to get anymore involved then he already was, not even to help the beautiful woman before him … then Bubba growled from behind him and he nodded desperately.

"I thought so. Did you see what way he went?"

Hector shrugged.

Jessica's smile was wide. "Now I know we aren't supposed to be on this island, and as soon as we collect my ex, Bubba and I will be gone. You can't blame me for wanting to get vengeance on him now can you?" Her smile turned mean. "After all if it's one thing a Southern woman knows, it's how to handle a man who has done her wrong."

Grunting more in disgust than in trying to play the character Jessica had created for him, Hawk went back to surveying the ground while Jess spun her web. Some men were so gullible it was pathetic to have to claim as men.

****

~Jeep~

"Francis I don't think you should be going so fast on this road," Manny pointed out, reaching desperately for his seatbelt. "Is this even a road?"

"Relax I know the road," Francis replied increasing his speed.

"That's comforting," Manny, muttered tightening his belt as much as he could without sending his spleen through his spine. "So why are we in such a hurry?"

"This river has a waterfall in it."

"How big of a waterfall?" Manny wanted to know.

"At least 80 feet," Francis answered shortly and drove the jeep off the road to the right and into the knee length undergrowth. 

"Now I know this isn't a road," Manny cried when the Hummer began to bounce up and down.

"We need to get Jason off the river before he gets to the waterfall," Francis explained briefly before focusing his attention on the drive.

****

~Shore~

"The first thing you are doing when we get back to Port Charles is going on a diet. No more #4's for you," Elizabeth huffed. "The first thing I'm doing is joining that new health club."

Falling quiet Elizabeth concentrated on the now familiar task of dragging an unconscious Jason around. This time the water helped to propel him, but all too soon the only movement came from her already spent muscles.

With a final hard tug Elizabeth lost her grip and fell back on the ground. Jason's body came down on her legs pinning them underneath him. Gasping in air she stared up at the blue sky and rested her aching body. The sun seemingly revolved, once, then twice, and she closed her eyes until the dizziness passed. She waited a few more minutes to be sure before reluctantly sitting up.

"Jason," she tutted softly at the unconscious man, "what am I going to do with you?" Moving gingerly she lifted his upper body up until she could work the waterlogged backpack off of him. "How is it that you still smell good?" she wondered aloud when he fell back against her.

Shaking her head at the unfairness of it all Elizabeth moved carefully until she was crouching beside him and carefully began to take stock of his injuries. She knew from the tinge of the water that the bleeding had finally stopped but now that they were back on dry land it had picked up again.

"Oh man," Elizabeth picked up his arm and let out a sigh of relief when she saw an exit wound on the back of his arm, at least she wouldn't have to dig for anything. Returning his arm to the ground she moved to the crease on his forehead, but that injury was still sealed. "It's a good thing you have a hard head."

Her focus shifted to the backpack and she checked it for any kind of supplies that could be used to patch him up. The canteen and an old ratty blanket was all she saw, and with a weary sigh she dumped them out on the sand. Next she reached into his boot and pulled the Bowie knife from its sheath.

"Shirt or blanket?" She asked the unconscious man. "Well Rip I guess its up to me to decide and for you to tell me later what I should have done instead."

Feeling parched she reached for the canteen, relieved to find it over half full, she took a long drink. Gasping in surprise when the liquid hit her mouth Elizabeth began to cough. When she recovered she peered curiously inside the canteen. Whatever was in there sure wasn't water.

Her gaze shifted to Jason's bloody arm, the knife in her hand, then back to the canteen. "There's nothing wrong with Dutch courage," she informed the deserted beach before taking another long sip.

****

~New York City~

"What the hell are you talking about now Johnny?" Sonny demanded.

Johnny recognized the look in his boss' eye. It was the one that meant you waste my time and don't be surprised to find yourself on the milk run again. "Well," he cleared his throat and tried again. "I remember where I heard that name before."

"What name?" Benny asked.

"Margaretha Zelle," Johnny prompted. "Fran … I was watching this biography on A&E and it was about her."

"_You_ were watching A&E?" Sonny asked doubtfully.

"Yes," Johnny answered defensively. When Sonny and Benny's expressions remained dubious he explained. "I was with Francis."

"That explains it," Benny murmured.

"Anyway," Johnny glared at the others. "They did this bio on Mata Hari, whose real name happens to be Margaretha…"

"Zelle," Sonny finished for him before turning to his fact-finder. "Why didn't you catch this?"

Johnny preened while Benny shifted his feet.

****

~Beach~

"You know this is the exact reason why I studied my Gram's medical books." Elizabeth chirped while her hands were busy cutting up the blanket. As usual talking to him helped to calm her nerves. "After finding you in the snow that time, I figured there was no harm in being prepared in case it happened again." Pausing in her work she patted his chest and lowered her voice. "And I have to tell you Jason, you being injured seems to happen a lot, so it's a good thing I did study."

Reaching for the canteen she took another long drink. "I guess it's time to do this." Picking up his arm she placed his hand on her knee and reached for the bandage she'd made. "Oops almost forgot." Dropping the bandage she grabbed the canteen and brought it to the wound. "I really hate to waste this," she muttered regretfully before pouring some of the alcohol on his open wound.

The intense burning in his arm jolted Jason into wakefulness. He immediately made a move to sit up only to be pushed back down to the ground.

"Take it easy."

Blinking the cobwebs from his mind Jason gradually came to realize where he was and more importantly whom he was with. "Elizabeth?"

"You were expecting someone else?"

"No." Jason tried to sit up only to have her shove him back down.

"Stop fidgeting. I need to get this bandage on your arm," Elizabeth gave him a warning glare than began wrapping his arm.

Tilting his head he studied her actions, when she cursed under her breath his attention shifted to her face. He wasn't surprised to find her chewing on her bottom lip. The smile that image brought to his face faded when he noted how pale she was, and how deeply her eyes seemed to be sitting in her pale face. Her fatigue was obvious and it caused him some concern.

"Almost got it." Determined to get the bandage on, she forgot to be gentle and yanked hard on the two ends of the blanket bandage, before tying them together. "Did you moan?"

Ignoring her question Jason flexed his arm, when she dropped it, checking her work. "Nice job," he gave his approval reluctantly then noticed she wasn't listening to him.

"Of course it's nice work, I told you've I've been studying," Elizabeth reminded him tartly when she quit drinking.

Recognizing the glint in her eye Jason merely nodded his agreement and sat up, this time she let him. Flashes of color surrounding them on the beach caught his attention. Frowning he picked up one of the larger pieces, glanced at the bandage on his arm, then looked at what was left of the blanket, which wasn't very much. Elizabeth's off-key humming caught his attention and his focus shifted to his companion. 

Her face, which had been ashen just a few minutes ago, now was sporting rosy cheeks, along with a red nose and he immediately grew concerned. She hadn't felt well earlier in the day. If she got sick while they were on the island he didn't know what he would do.

"Well Jason, our luck's holding." Elizabeth pointed at the waterfall and nearly poked him in the eye. "That fall was definitely not a small fall."

"No it was the big waterfall," he admitted, bracing himself for her retort. But none arrived instead she took another drink.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked.

"Me? I'm just peachy. I'm not the one that was shot remember? All I did was go flying." Setting the canteen down she stretched and nearly poked Jason in the eye again. "How's your head?"

His focus on the canteen, he gave an absentminded reply. "It's fine the bullet just creased me."

"That's good," Elizabeth murmured through her yawn. "Oh my god you were shot in the head?" Concerned she shot to her knees and yanked his head closer. "Where? I don't see anything."

Jason found himself with his head pressed against her chest. Shock held him motionless but not for long. As quickly as she had pulled him in, Elizabeth shoved him back with a frown.

"I don't see a bullet wound."

"I told you it was only a crease," was his response to her accusation.

"Oh that's right," she reached for the canteen, but Jason was too quick for her. "Hey!"

"What's in the canteen?"

Elizabeth shrugged then glared at him. "You can say thanks you know."

"What?" Feeling the heat of her glare he looked up from his study of the liquid inside the canteen.

"I did save your life … again. How many times does this make in the last three days?"

"Elizabeth…" Jason began but Elizabeth cut him off with a short wave of the hand that he had to duck.

"I was making my way to the surface, trying not to drown, but before I could get there and begin breathing again, I see you." She poked him hard in the chest. "And are you swimming to help me after pulling me over the waterfall?" She demanded and he opened his mouth to reply. "No not you…." Jason's mouth slammed shut. 

"Nope Rip, the blob, was sinking to the bottom. But did I give up? Did I ignore you so I could breathe again? No not me, I swam after you and saved your life yet again. And what do I get for my trouble?" She spread her arms and caught him on the chest. "Nothing as usual."

Jason set the canteen down with a slam that made no noise in the sand. She had come close to dying again and he hadn't been able to help her. He hated that, he hated the fact that he had let her down again. "I'm so…"

"I know your sorry," Elizabeth sing-songed and reached for the canteen. "If we ever do this again, you're going on a diet first."

Jason pulled the canteen from her hands. "I think you've had enough."

"Now you get bossy. I knew it would happen," Elizabeth grumbled.

Ignoring her he smelled the liquid in the canteen but smelled nothing, finally he took a small sip and fire burned a trail down his throat.

"You know I don't think this sweater is made of very high quality material." Elizabeth complained while Jason began to cough.

"What?"

Frowning down at her sweater which had now shrunk to the size of a tube top she held out her arms, tightening it even more over her chest and shook slightly. "Maybe I'll start a new trend," she sighed in despair. "I only wish I have more jiggle to fill up the sweater."

Jason's eyes moved automatically to her chest. "What you have is fine."

Her frown disappeared and her smile was wide when her eyes met his. "You've been looking."

Unnerved Jason took another drink and promptly began coughing.

"Jason your ears are turning pink," she marveled with a laugh. Throwing her arms around his neck she drew him closer.

His embarrassment lasted as long as his resolve and neither had a chance against the feeling of her in his arms. He was past wondering why, with the difference in their sizes, she fit so well in his arms, he had finally learned to accept it. All too soon he felt her trying to pull back and reluctantly let her go. She didn't go far however, she merely pulled back far enough to study his face.

"I'm glad you weren't hurt worse," she whispered.

"I really am sorry I wasn't there to help you," he responded just as softly.

"Don't worry at the rate we're going you'll have your chance," Elizabeth grinned. "Don't frown."

Responding automatically to her order he tried to let go of the worry her words caused.

"There is no point in worrying in advance, believe me, I know," she informed him.

Her smile was, as usual, impossible to resist and a small one in response made its way to his lips. Reaching up he brushed some sand from her cheek and she leaned into his hand. Drawn to her he tilted her head up and moved closer. His lips were inches from hers when Elizabeth shoved him away, reminding him of all those frustrating times last winter.

"I don't think we should do this," Elizabeth sat back on the sand. "We both know what will happen if we do kiss. You'll regret it as soon as we stop. You'll say it was a mistake. That it was just the moment that made you kiss me, and that it will never happen again. And when you say that it will feel like you ripped another layer of skin off of me."

Jason flinched.

"I don't like pain Jason. With my past I should be used to it by now, but I'm not," she sighed sadly. "I really don't think I can stand hearing you say that kissing me was nothing more than a mistake." Thoroughly depressed she reached for the canteen.

"Elizabeth," Jason's voice was sharp in exasperation but by the time he got the canteen from her it was empty and her expression was mischievous. "How much of this have you had?"

"Not mu…" she hiccupped. "Not much at all."

Either, Elizabeth was lying, she was a one-drink wonder, or the alcohol had hit her stomach and went straight to her head. Whatever the case he had a feeling that both Elizabeth and to a degree, himself, would be feeling it later on. But at the moment Elizabeth's mood seemed to be happy, knowing that could change any minute he realized they should probably get moving while she was being agreeable. "We better go."

"Okay," Elizabeth agreed readily yet made no move to get up.

Shaking his read Jason grabbed the canteen and waded into the water.

"Jason I'm not pulling you out of the water again," she warned him.

Ignoring her he rinsed the canteen out and filled it. Wading back to shore he picked up the backpack and shoved the canteen and blanket into it, before putting it on.

"Don't forget this," Elizabeth held out the Bowie knife.

Concerned Jason quickly took the weapon from her. "Time to leave."

"You go ahead, I like it here." Elizabeth yawned and leaned backward.

Resigned Jason bent, picked her up and over his shoulder. Laughter rang out on the deserted beach. Moving purposefully he headed for the tree line. The sooner they were out of sight the better off they would be.

"You know Jason I changed my mind. Anytime you want to kiss me I'm willing," she informed his rather firm butt, and was rewarded with a slap on her own. "Hey!"

****

~Airport~

"Are you sure about this?" Nikolas asked doing his best not to let his concern show.

"If you want to stay here go ahead." Was Max's only reply.

Glaring at the mountain of a man, Nikolas followed him, somewhat reluctantly from the small terminal and made his way to the lone seaplane tied to the dock. Would he feel more reassured if his companion spoke more? Or if the ancient plane didn't look like a string and a prayer held it together? He thought so, but was afraid he was out of luck in both cases.

"Do you really know how to fly one of these planes?" Nikolas couldn't help but question.

Sighing wearily Max eyed him coldly. "If I don't you'll be the first to know."

Annoyed Nikolas glared at Max who was either oblivious or just could care less. Muttering Greek under his breath Nikolas finally clambered inside the old plane. One day he was going to punish Sonny Corinthos for saddling him with the cretin known as Max for this trip.

****

~Beach~

Francis moved cautiously into the clearing his eyes trying to take in every potential threatening area at once. He knew Manny had his back, and despite his comments to the contrary, he knew the kid was good, he had a lot of potential. If he lived that long that was. His eyes swept the area once, twice, then gave Manny the all clear signal and let his guard down slightly.

"Looks like this is where he came ashore." Manny pointed out the strips of fabric on the ground and the faint outline of a large object in the sand that hadn't been erased by the water lapping the shore yet.

Nodding slightly Francis moved toward the waters edge trying to read the scene. When he got to the shore he spied the familiar tracks of a boot print with a nick in the sole. Manny was right Jason had come ashore here and from the looks of the area he was alone when he did and able to walk out on his own as well.

"The tracks lead off in this direction," Manny took a step in the direction of the tree line. When Francis didn't say anything he turned to see what was going on. Francis was still scanning the ground as if he was looking for something. His expression dimmed and he felt every ache in his body when he realized what his friend was doing.

Francis finally stopped looking at the ground and wearily made his way to join Manny.

"Did you see any other tracks?" Manny asked quietly.

Giving a terse shake of his head Francis checked his watch. "I can't put this off any longer. We missed our last check-in. We need to get to higher ground and phone in, Sonny needs…" Francis swallowed hard. "He needs to know Jason is alive and Elizabeth is dead."

Manny silently trailed his partner into the bush. Whoever had done this to Jason and Elizabeth would pay, he knew that. But he just now realized how much others were already paying and they hadn't done anything to deserve it.

****

~Clearing~

"So what did you see?" Jessica dropped the honeyed drawl as soon as they stepped back into the bushes and away from the clearing at the edge of the cliff.

"Bushes were broken, there were lots of footprints, more than just the giant and your latest conquest back there," feeling her glare Hawk summed up. "I think Morgan went over the edge."

"Damn the man," Jessica muttered.

"That's not all." Hawk was the one drawling this time and he waited until her eyebrow had arched and her eyes were shooting darts at him before going on. "We aren't the only one following Morgan."

That thought gave Jessica a moment's pause and she took a long look at the area around them.

"Boss?" Hawk prompted after another minute. He wanted to continue with the hunt but knew if his boss called it off that would be it.

"It was probably just another guard," Jessica decided finally. "There's no way any of Corinthos' people could have found him by now. We better move on."

Hawk's grin was lethal, he shouldered the rifle and gave a sharp salute. "A hunting we will go."

"Why didn't I bring one of the others on this job?" Jessica wondered aloud, moving from the trail she headed deeper into the bushes.

"Darlin you know why. You miss me too much when you don't see me every day," Hawk reminded her cheekily.

"Where was that pit we found?" Jessica asked. "I believe I found its next occupant." She deliberately fell silent even though she could feel the bastard's grin on her back.

~*~

Hector let out his first easy breath when the sounds of the visitors passage finally faded. This was the final straw he was never coming back to this island of hell. Jorge groaned and Hector couldn't help but kick his cousin again, it was all his fault. Jorge jerked into semi-wakefulness and Hector immediately backed off. His cousin was never very friendly after a beating.

Shifting his attention to the opening that the blonde and her growling companion had disappeared through. Hector gave a passing thought to calling her back and warning her about the other stranger who had been asking about her boyfriend. Jorge began cursing behind him and the thought drifted from his mind.

****

~New York City~

Surprisingly he didn't throw the phone against the wall. In fact he closed it softly, more softly than he usually did and automatically returned it to his suit pocket. Moving slowly, almost woodenly he crossed to the window and stared at the New York skyline and the barely visible setting sun. His room was high enough that he could see the light that filtered through the skyscrapers, but the dark was there as well. 

"So much darkness," Sonny whispered against the cold glass.

"Boss?" Johnny asked after another minute of cautious study.

"Benny," his voice was too rough, too hoarse, too emotional and he didn't like it. "Do you have a list of all of Unique's employees?"

"I do, or at least all the employees we can verify work there," Benny replied nervously.

"Good." Sonny turned from the window, determination and anger lining his face. "Bring it."

Benny and Johnny eyed each other in question while their boss picked up his coat and headed for the door.

"Where are we going boss?"

"Unique," Sonny's eyes were as dark as the darkness inside of him. "I have the hammer to break them."

****

~Puddle Jumper~

Nikolas was almost asleep when the mountain began to hum. Startled because this was the first noise his traveling companion had made without prompting, Nikolas opened his eyes then immediately wished he hadn't.

Max was … well the only thing he could think of was that the mountain was happy. The humming faded and a smile formed. The smile was okay, nothing grotesque, but it was the expression behind the smile that spooked Nikolas. To him it appeared that Max was demented.

The plane banked to the right then quickly righted itself.

"Is there a problem?" Nikolas asked but the giant merely began to whistle and banked the plane to the left.

Nikolas was disgusted to find himself fidgeting slightly and immediately stopped it. Princes didn't fidget, no matter what, they didn't fidget. How many times had he heard that? Steeling his back and his resolve Nikolas was determined not to show his concern.

The plane banked dangerously to the left causing his head to hit the window and things in the back of the plane to roll around. "What the hell is your problem?" 

"You know I'm really a good pilot," Max began in a conversational tone. "And I'm not as dumb as I look."

"That is good to know. Now what are you doing?" Nikolas braced himself when Max banked again.

"I know lots of things. Things like how much weight should be in a plane and how that weight should be distributed inside the plane."

"So?" Nikolas tightened his seatbelt.

"We have more weight in the plane than we should."

More concerned with the bucking plane than he was with what Max was saying, Nikolas' reply was pithy and in Greek.

"Do you know what that means?"

"What?" Nikolas cried.

"It means we have a stowaway in back," Max announced calmly.

That pronouncement captured his attention, Nikolas' eyes darted to the back of the plane but all he saw were blankets and a few crates.

"Take the stick."

Horrified Nikolas turned his focus back on Max. "What?"

"Fly, while I go see to our visitor." Max was already unfastening his seatbelt.

"You want me to fly the plane?" Nikolas' face drained of color.

"Just keep it level and I'll be right back."

"No," Nikolas yelled. "You fly I'll investigate." His fingers fumbled with the safety clasp on his belt.

"Mr. Cassadine…"

"You fly, I'll find out who is here with us." Nikolas freed himself and pulled the headset from his head and the sound of the engine and wind immediately filled his ears.

Nikolas scrambled from his seat and hunched over in the cramped quarters, he had taken a step towards the rear of the plane when Max thrust a small but heavy club in his hand. He looked at Max in question but Max merely shrugged and jerked his head towards the rear of the plane.

The smallness of the plane, as well as the bucking of it made movement difficult but Nikolas kept his focus on the one place that was large enough to hide a person. Was it is his imagination or did the lump under the blanket moan when Max banked sharply again? It had to be his imagination because it was too loud to hear anything in the plane.

Tightening his grip on the bully club Nikolas drew near the lump on the floor. Crouching next to it he saw the lump move under the blanket and raised the club high in the air above the lump. The hand he held out to pull the blanket free was remarkably steady. Taking a deep breath he yanked the blanket free and prepared to strike.

****

~Trail~

"Do you have to breathe so loudly?" Elizabeth asked grumpily.

Jason didn't bother to reply. He knew her drinking would come back to haunt him and now it had.

Rubbing her temples Elizabeth continued to mutter under her breath while she followed Jason. Her focus was on trying to calm down enough so the red would fade from her face. She was mortified when she thought back to how she had acted with Jason. Whatever had been in that canteen had gone straight to her head. At the moment she'd welcome a pit to fall into, even if it did have a snake.

"Do you want some water?"

Jason's voice broke into her reverie as he held out the canteen. She eyed it dubiously and Jason took a long swallow before offering it to her again this time she took it and drank greedily.

"Take it easy. Who knows when will be able to fill it again," Jason cautioned.

Obeying automatically Elizabeth put the lid on the canteen and handed it back to him. "Where do you think we are?"

Jason shrugged and tried to hide the wince when he felt the shaft of pain that movement caused. His body ached more from hitting the water than it did from the bullet. But since Elizabeth hadn't said a word in complaint he wasn't about too.

"As usual you are a fountain of information." Elizabeth muttered darkly.

"We went over a waterfall, on an island I've never been too, I'm sorry if I'm a little unsure."

"How do you know we went over the falls? You were unconscious remember? Maybe I drug your ass to the shore before we went over the side," Elizabeth shot back.

"Is this the time that you start yelling at me again?" Jason asked hotly.

Elizabeth spun around to fire a retort and the world continued to spin even after she stopped causing the retort to die on her lips.

Seeing her pale and stagger Jason was at her side quickly and urged her to sit on a fallen log while he crouched in front of her.

"I feel dizzy," Elizabeth murmured. She was so tired of feeling weak and dizzy.

"Just breathe deeply," Jason pushed her head down.

Elizabeth closed her eyes until the feeling of vertigo passed. When it did she tried to sit up only to have Jason push her head back down again.

"Enough Jason," she swatted his hand away and sat up. Seeing the wounded look in his eyes she immediately felt bad but by that time it was too late.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine it's just after effects of the alcohol." Elizabeth reassured him.

"Are you sure?" Jason remained unconvinced. "You didn't feel well earlier."

Elizabeth's eyes slid away from his. "That was because I was hungry. I'm fine now."

"Elizabeth?"

"We probably should get a move on." Elizabeth tried for cheery and made a move to get up but Jason didn't budge.

"I think its time you were straight with me." Jason's expression was serious.

"What do you mean?" Again her eyes danced nervously away from his face.

"It's time for you to tell me the whole story Elizabeth. I want to know what brought you to Sonny's villa, what drug you took to fake your death, what happened on the plane, and what's happened since we landed on this island."

Unnerved she dropped her eyes and belatedly noticed that his hands were on either side of her on the log, effectively pinning her in. She raised her head to look in his eyes and recognized the look of determination in them. He wasn't going to be put off this time.

~*~

Stavros hummed quietly to himself while he studied the pair before him. Dark and light. The contrast between the couple made them a striking pair. Raising the rifle he had appropriated from an idiot guard to his shoulder he sighted the woman through the scope.

It would be a pity to finish the woman before he was able to taste her. She definitely caught his fancy. It was also a pity that he would need to strike from so far away. He preferred killing up close. The closer you were to the victim the better it was. You got to smell the blood, the fear, you could almost taste it at times. It was very addictingl.

His hesitation lasted only an instant he hated to deprive himself of any sort of pleasure and he wasn't going to start now. Backing quietly into the bush he put the rifle strap over his shoulder, pulled his handgun out and began moving cautiously down to the unsuspecting pair.

~*~

"Jason I really think we should get moving. You said yourself it wasn't smart to stay in one place for long." 

"We'll be fine." Jason recognized her tactic for what it was, an evasion. "Why did Sonny send you to the villa?"

"You didn't want to know the details remember?" Elizabeth was determined not to mention Lucky's name. 

"I want to know now," Jason's voice was soft but firm.

The last thing she wanted to do was mention Lucky and watch him shut down again. Or worse start treating her like she was one of the Quartermaine's. She'd made a promise to herself that she wouldn't mention Lucky. That she wouldn't try to explain her actions, her reasoning's. To accomplish that she couldn't talk to him about Port Charles at all.

When it became apparent that she wasn't going to answer he changed tracks. "What about the plane? What happened between you and scarman?"

Jolted, Elizabeth shot to her feet causing Jason to fall back on the ground. "That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is getting off this island." Moving quickly she took off down the trail. "We better move."

"Elizabeth," Jason got quickly to his feet but she had already disappeared into the thick bushes that lined the old trail they were following.

Elizabeth risked a glance over her shoulder and sighed in relief when she didn't see him. Maybe he'd drop his questions for now. Satisfied she turned back around and came to a halt a few inches from the barrel of a gun.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Please reply if you'd like anymore.

Stephanie


	12. OOOPS

****

Babble: Things to know about this story. 1) It's set during the time when Elizabeth faked her death; and 2) Ever here of a guy named Murphy and a pesky little law that follows him around? Since there are kidnappings, druggings, gun fights, plane crashes, snakes, wild animals, waterfalls… this fic seems to fit that law.

Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know.

Steph

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

One of Those Days

Part XII

****

~Plane~

A shriek echoed around the small interior of the plane. Hearing it Nikolas was able to stop the club inches from the brown-haired girl's head. "Emily?" His weak question illustrated his shock.

Emily Quartermaine peeked through the fingers of the hands covering her face. "Y-yes."

The club clattered to the floor of the plane and quickly rolled away. Hearing that Emily dropped her hands to study her one-time friend. Nikolas looked as shocked as she'd ever seen him. "Are you going to let me up?"

"I ought to throw you off the plane." Nikolas responded even as his ingrained manners came to bear and he helped her into a sitting position.

"It's good to see you too," she grumbled and immediately found herself being smothered in a hug. The hug was so familiar and comforting that she couldn't help but respond. She may be alternating between feeling hurt or angry when she thought of him, but they had been friends too long for her not to feel anything.

"How did you get here?" Nikolas pulled back to search her face then moved on to search the plane looking for a wheelchair. "Can you walk?"

"I'll show you if you let me." Emily replied. She was getting tired of being on the cold hard floor of the plane. She hadn't really thought about the realities of her plan when she snuck on board the plane. If she had she would have brought a cushion with her.

The sound of banging caught his attention and Nikolas turned to look at the cockpit where the Mountain was waiting. Although Emily and him had been speaking quite loudly in order to be heard over the roar of the plane they weren't loud enough that Max could hear them. Getting to his feet he hunched slightly out of deference to the compact interior of the plane and to help Emily get up. The sight of her standing under her own power warmed his heart. She appeared to be a bit unsteady but he hoped that was due to the rocking of the plane and not because of any physical limitation.

They began making their way up to the cockpit. "Take the seat." Emily nodded and climbed awkwardly over the control panel to take the co-pilot's seat, while he pulled down the jump seat behind them.

"Ms. Quartermaine," Max nodded at her.

Nikolas was surprised by Max's behavior. He was acting like he'd just run into Emily at Kelly's not like she'd been discovered as a stowaway of a private plane. "What are you doing here?"

"Max how are you?" Emily ignored Nikolas' question.

"Fine," Max replied. "I hope you weren't to uncomfortable back there."

Emily heard Nikolas make a noise that sounded like a growl and smothered a laugh. "It was a bit bumpy especially when you started practicing your roll technique."

Max blushed at her words and Nikolas was agog at the sight of the Mountain blushing.

"I saw you at the airport in P.C." Emily finally decided to answer Nikolas' question. "I recognized Max and wondered why you were traveling with one of Sonny's men, so I decided to follow you."

"You decided to follow us." Nikolas parroted too surprised at the moment to be angry. He merely shook his head in wonder as the day turned even stranger.

****

~Woods~

Frozen in place Elizabeth could only stare down the barrel of the gun that was inches from her face. Spanish filtered past her ears and then went on over her head. She had no idea what he was saying, probably something about not moving, which she was only too happy to oblige. The man seemed to realize she couldn't understand him and his eyes narrowed in speculation. When his eyes shifted past her to check out the direction she'd come from she could only hope Jason was still sitting on his butt somewhere and wouldn't come barreling upon them. She recognized the odor coming from the hand-rolled cigarette that hung from the man's lips as marijuana and felt he might be a little too trigger happy for her peace of mind.

Holding her breath she waited to see what happened next and tried not to flinch when the man lowered the gun and moved closer. She remained tense however because even though the gun was no longer pointed at her head it was firmly gripped in the man's tattooed hand. Up close and personal to the man she tried not gag, apparently he had an aversion to water and such things as showering or doing laundry. Biting her lip she decided not to mention it.

"American?" The man asked in heavily accented English.

"Yes," she nodded and watched the man's eyes change yet again. This time they went wary and almost before she was aware of it he had pulled a piece of rope out of his pocket. One end of the rope had been formed into a loop that he quickly slid over her wrist and tightened until it was tight against her skin. Another loop was formed and slid over her other wrist and that was tightened as well. Soon her hands were bound in front of her. The speed and efficiency in which he'd accomplished that move with only one hand told her he had plenty of practice tying people up. It wasn't a comforting realization.

Once she was bound he moved around her and soon she felt his hands on her back, then her legs as he checked her for what she could only assume were hidden weapons. Her only consolation was that his touch remained impersonal, she hoped it would stay that way. The gun poked her in the back and he gestured in a direction, taking that to mean she was to move, she forced herself to walk. Moving into the brush that covered a path she could only wonder where the hell was Jason?

~*~*~

Jason remained in the bushes a few feet from where Elizabeth and Dominguez's guard were standing. His gut had clenched in anger while watching the guard tie her up and then search her for weapons, and yet he remained where he was hidden. He couldn't take the risk of moving to soon. He needed to make sure the guard was by himself before he made his move. He had to wait in order to keep the risk to Elizabeth's safety at a minimum.

He knew what he was doing was smart and really the only move he could make, but that didn't mean he liked it. In fact his blood began to simmer as the guard prodded her with his gun to get her moving. He caught a glimpse of her expression and instead of the fear that he'd expected to see he saw a touch of anger in her expression. Recognizing it, he realized she was probably cursing him, wondering where he was. Shaking his head in ill-timed amusement he waited until they disappeared from view before moving after them as quietly as he could.

****

~New York~

Sonny swaggered through the doors of Unique Unlimited like a man who already owned the place and was about to strip it for parts. Johnny gave a passing thought to the bespectacled young man sitting behind the receptionist desk then decided to save his pity for someone whose fate wasn't already sealed.

"I want to see your boss." Sonny announced loudly.

"Ms. Zelle is out of the office." The receptionist responded with a mechanical smile. "She is expected back next week if you'd like to make an appointment."

"I don't make appointments." Leaning over the desk Sonny closed the appointment book startling the receptionist.

"I'm sorry?" His smile faltered. This was not going the way it was supposed to. He wasn't trained to handle situations like this. "I'm sorry Mr. Mr?"

"Corinthos," Sonny supplied and watched the younger man's eyes bug out from behind his lenses and knew it had been recognized. "My name is Sonny Corinthos and I suggest you find me someone to speak to."

A woman who had been about to enter the lobby heard that pronouncement and quickly scrambled back until she was hugging the wall in the hall. What was Sonny Corinthos doing here?

"Mr. Corinthos," a striking African American woman entered the lobby. "Perhaps I can be of assistance. I'm Meg Barnett the general manager of Unique."

Leaving the slowly disassembling receptionist in his wake Sonny moved quickly towards the woman.

Her face remained composed but Meg watched his approach warily. The fact that one of the most notorious mobsters on the East Coast was in her office meant trouble not only for the company but her boss as well. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me who placed the bounty on Jason Morgan." Sonny snapped.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," she replied smoothly.

"Don't toy with me Ms. Barnett." Sonny smiled feeling in control. He'd recognized the look in the woman's eyes, she was an operator, that knowledge reassured him. He was used to handling operators and he had no doubt he would handle her. "I know your company is the one responsible for the snatching of my partner Jason Morgan."

"If your partner is missing…"

"In fact I imagine that is where you boss is at the moment," he went on. "What I want to know is who placed the bounty that your boss so foolishly decided to accept."

Meg held her smile even as she cursed her boss. She'd advised against taking the bounty on Morgan but her boss had been looking for a challenge. Now her worst fears were coming true. Something had gone wrong with the Morgan jack and whatever that was it had led to Corinthos' discovery of their company being the one behind it. "Mr. Corinthos, I'm afraid you've gotten some bad information."

"Don't," he warned her. "You really don't want to play around with me, not right now, not after what you've done."

The threat of violence in the man's eyes surprised her. From her research of Corinthos she knew he had an ingrained sense of honor when it came to women. Her boss believed it was that code of honor that precluded him from hiring their company when it was obvious that he could use their expertise.

Sonny took a breath and used the delay to try to battle back his rage. He needed to hold it together. He couldn't explode yet, not until he knew who it was that had started this disaster that had cost Elizabeth her life. "Your jack is over."

"Mr. Corinthos."

"It was over when the plane carrying Jason Morgan, your two flunkies and an innocent girl crashed into the ocean, killing everyone on board with the exception of Jason," Sonny informed her coldly.

The woman eavesdropping in the hall moved a little closer trying to hear better.

"Mr. Corinthos," Meg started and then trailed off when his words penetrated. She knew there had been a problem with the payment for the jack but she hadn't been informed that the plane had crashed. The two idiots on board weren't a great loss, they were drug smugglers by trade and had only been hired because of the plane, so they weren't a great loss to humanity. But what was this about an innocent girl?

Sonny could read the questions in her eyes. Questions she refused to ask and inched closer. "Elizabeth Webber was on that plane. She's dead because of your jack."

The woman in the hall staggered back against the wall in shock, her mind began replaying conversations she'd had with Elizabeth.

"If you people bothered to research Jason at all then you should recognize her name. You should also realize what she means to Jason and that means you ought to know what he'll do when he finds out she's dead," he taunted.

This time Meg couldn't keep the worry from showing on her face.

"You better tell me who placed the bounty." Sonny's voice was soft but that didn't belie the menace in his eye.

Johnny kept busy scanning the lobby. They were beginning to attract some attention. Cataloging them was his business and he was very good at his job, so far he hadn't spied a gun on any of them. He wasn't sure if it was his boss's menace or his glare that kept them at bay, but so far they were merely watching the show. A flash of color caught his eye and he focused on the entry to a hall behind the receptionist desk, but by the time he'd focused on it the woman was gone. He was struck by a nagging feeling of familiarity, dismissing it for the time being he went back to his job.

"Jason won't ask any questions." Sonny went on, inching closer until they were almost sharing the same space. He lowered his voice and kept his eyes locked on hers, he could have been seducing her except for the words he was saying. "Jason's been compared to a machine, a Borg if you will, in this case that's an accurate assessment. He won't stop, he won't be swayed by begging or bribery, he'll just keep coming until he knows who hired you and punishes everyone that contributed to her death."

"I'm sorry that you lost a friend," Meg tried to counter and calm her fears at the same time. "But the fact remains I don't know what you are talking about."

"If something should happen to Jason, if he should die as well," he went on like she hadn't even spoken. "I'll be honor bound to complete what he started."

Not liking the increased attention his boss was garnering Johnny took a step forward and cleared his throat. Sonny nodded in response and Johnny raised the radio to alert the driver to bring the car around.

"I know who you are Ms. Barnett. I know where you live, both here and in Paris," he paused to let that sink in. "I know where to find most of your operatives as well." Was it wrong to enjoy the way she'd paled? "I'll give you until noon tomorrow to get me the information. If I don't have it by then…" he let the threat hang in the air, turned and left as dramatically as he'd arrived.

The woman who had been eavesdropping collapsed against the wall when she heard the door close. Noise began filtering around the lobby again when people began moving from the lobby back into the offices she walked into the lobby and crossed to Meg. "Whew I don't envy you."

Meg leveled a glare at one of their best operatives, using the time it took to do that to try to settle her breathing. The threat Corinthos had leveled certainly packed a punch.

"I thought we didn't do mafia bounty's."

"We don't." Meg forced herself to walk while she explained. "This wasn't a mob snatch, the boss had a personal guarantee about that." She checked her watch and swore lightly. "She missed her first check-in I'll have to tell her about the girl at the next one. She needs to know about the new threat."

"What if she doesn't check-in?"

"We'll follow standard procedure." Meg rubbed at her temple suddenly she had a nasty headache. "The boss has to miss three check-ins before we move in."

Nodding she stayed where she was after Meg disappeared. If they followed procedure a whole day would pass before they moved in. Somehow she didn't think Sonny would wait a full day for answers. The only question was could she?

****

~Trail~

"Did you hear something?"

Jess paused to listen then shook her head. "Nothing but the same noise we've been hearing all day," she pronounced after a minute and began to walk again.

Hawk took a step to follow then came to a halt again. The hair on the back of his neck had risen a sure sign that trouble was coming. Turning he looked carefully at the bushes that surrounded them, searching for the source of the trouble that was making him uneasy, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. They weren't alone, he knew that, yet he saw no signs of where their watcher was. For the first time in years he felt a sense of fear. Whatever was watching them was evil, the likes of which he'd never seen.

Amalie, his riverboat driving Creole Grand Mere, had been a medicine woman on the Bayou. She had raised him and trained him to believe in evil, in all of its many forms, so he had no trouble saying the word, or identifying what had spooked him now. Somehow he knew it was the purest form of evil watching them now. Moving on instinct he hurried after Jess and caught her arm. "Run." 

Jess took one look at his face and complied. He herded them off the overgrown trail they had been following to the relative safety of the trees. They'd barely made the cover of the tree line when the dirt behind them began exploding in their wake.

****

~Woods~

Francis held up his hand to stop Manny when the faint sound of gunfire reached his ears. Both men looked back in the direction of the shots.

"You think that could be about Jason?" Manny asked when the sound of gunfire faded.

"No." Francis' response was immediate. "We're definitely on Jason's trail, he somewhere ahead of us. Whatever the shots were about they have nothing to do with Jason."

Deferring to Francis' superior knowledge was something Manny was used to doing so the shots were easy to dismiss. "We still on his trail?"

"Yeah," Francis gestured to the overgrown path. "It's difficult to track him. I only catch a glimpse of his track every few feet or so. The nick in the boot tread tells me we're on the right track. I only hope he stays to the trail, if he doesn't he's going to be a bitch to track."

****

~Trail~

Stavros tripped over an overgrown root and went sprawling. Cursing richly he got to his feet and brushed the dirt from his face. He wasn't sure how the man had realized he was being hunted but he'd managed to grab the blonde and get them out of sight before he could stop them. The fact they'd gotten away, bothered him. The sight of the blonde had awakened his carnal instinct, once aroused they were hard to deny. In fact he wasn't sure how to deny them, as the Prince he'd never had to. It had been such a long time since he'd hunted, he wouldn't be denied for long.

Glancing in the direction the pair had disappeared he was tempted to follow, to execute the man and take the woman. The temptation was so strong he actually took a step from the path to follow them, then remembered why he was on the island in the first place. He was there to find Elizabeth Webber, to make her tell him where the Ice Princess was, once he knew that he would punish her. He would have fun punishing her, in fact he might arrange for Nikolas to join them to witness the punishment and learn how he was supposed to keep a woman in line. It was his right, his duty, as Nikolas' father to teach him how to take control. Decided he turned back on the path to continue on the way the pair had been going.

****

~Plane~

"You never answered me Nikolas. Why are you with Max? And what's this about Jason and Elizabeth?" Emily asked.

This time it was Nikolas who ignored the question. "I didn't know you were back in town."

"I just arrived," she admitted then mad at herself for answering his question she took a jab. "I wasn't aware you even knew I left town."

Nikolas flinched and looked away from her, his mistake was in meeting Max's glare, which he returned with one of his own. The glare had the desired effect, however, and he turned back to Emily. "I knew you were gone."

"You couldn't prove it by the amount of cards and letters you sent. I guess I should be used to it after all you didn't even bother to come to see me when I was in town at GH." Emily was still bitter, she still felt hurt that the only one of the four musketeers who'd bothered to come see her after she'd been hurt was Elizabeth. And even her visit had been more about her and Lucky then anything else.

"There's been a lot going on," Nikolas admitted. "However, that is no excuse. You were my friend, I should have been there for you."

His guilt was easy to read and when Emily felt herself weakening she changed the subject. "Answer my question. Why are you with Max?"

Nikolas looked towards Max for guidance but the Mountain was taking an extreme interest in the darkening horizon.

"Nikolas?" she prompted. "Jason was with me until last week when Sonny called to ask a favor."

"I'm glad you weren't alone."

"Don't try to avoid my question, you're not good at it." When he looked at her in confusion, she went on. "Compared to the Quartermaine's or Jason you're a babe in the woods when it comes to evasions."

Recognizing the determination in her eyes he realized he was going to have to tell her something. "The favor Sonny asked Jason to do was for me … and Elizabeth."

"Jason didn't mention that."

"I don't think he knew," he admitted.

"What happened Nikolas?" Emily buried her anger and learned standoffishness and studied him, he was really upset about something, and the sight of that was making her nervous.

"Elizabeth had to get out of town. No one could know where she was and she needed protection once she got out of town. We went to Sonny and he contacted Jason," he admitted in a rush.

"Why did Elizabeth have to leave town?" She wanted to know.

"That doesn't matter now," he evaded and wasn't surprised when she glared at him. "Something happened when she got where she was going … Jason was kidnapped."

The words were so unexpected that Emily could only blink.

"Did you hear me?"

"Jason was the one that was kidnapped?" Emily asked doubtfully.

"Yes and apparently Elizabeth followed the kidnappers and snuck onboard the plane the kidnapper's placed Jason on." Nikolas stopped and hoped she wouldn't question him any further. He didn't want to be the one to tell her that Jason may be dead, or even worse, that Elizabeth was dead.

"What happened then?" She knew him well enough to know he was holding something back. When he didn't answer she clutched his hand. "Tell me."

"The plane went down, there was only one survivor," he kept a hold of her hand when her grip went lax in his.

"No," she instinctively denied the awful words. "He can't be … she can't be."

Faced with the sudden devastation in her eyes he knew he could hold nothing back. "We don't know who survived."

Emily's eyes filled. "No."

"I'm sorry Emily. I'm so sorry."

"No," she lashed out, slapping at him. "You're lying."

"I'm sorry," he kept apologizing and just let her flail at him. Finally he caught her arms and crouched awkwardly half-behind, half-beside her seat and pulled her head to his shoulder. Eventually he felt her tears against his neck. "I'm so sorry."

****

~Trail~

Elizabeth couldn't help muttering under her breath. Jason seemed to be taking his sweet time coming to help her. How many times had she saved his butt in the last few days? She didn't wait to help him, she just charged in and it had worked time and time again, so where was he?

The rope was chafing her wrists, she was dying of thirst, her dizziness had returned, and her knees were killing her because of the number of times she'd fallen on her forced march. She never realized how much a person used their swinging arms for balance while they walked, until the time had come she couldn't use them.

The man behind her suddenly swore, curious she turned to see what his problem was just in time to see all hell break loose. The guard that had been herding her like a sheep was now holding a hand to his throat and cursing. Her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized blood coming from between his fingers. Before she had time to figure out what had happened Jason emerged from the bushes behind the armed guard and charged him.

The guard's focus had been on her face, which apparently wasn't a poker face because an instant before Jason reached him he whirled around to meet the charge. She couldn't help but scream when the sound of gunfire and groans came from the men in front of her.

~*~*~

"Did you hear that?" This time it was Manny who called for a stop. "It sounded like a gunshot."

Francis nodded and quickened his step. "It came from ahead of us."

~*~*~

Jason and the guard seemed to have survived the gunshot without injury. The gun went flying and landed near her feet while the men kept up their brutal fight. Scrambling for the gun Elizabeth awkwardly picked it up and pointed it at the two men on the ground in front of her.

The memory of the last time she'd held a gun crashed into her and the gun began shaking in her hands. The last time she'd held a gun she'd killed a man. She hadn't meant to, she hadn't even thought she'd hit scarman when she fired, but she had. She had hit him in the arm and when that happened he'd lost control of his own gun and it fired crazily killing the pilot and crashing the plane.

Now she was holding another gun and this one was pointed in Jason's direction. There was no way she could risk shooting it. She might hit Jason. She was just going to have to hope that Jason won the fight, or if she had to fire Jason was nowhere near where she was aiming. Her focus returned to the fight and to her untrained eye it seemed like Jason was losing. Her fears were confirmed when the guard got his feet under Jason's stomach and kicked him backwards. Jason flew back and landed hard on the ground and she winced in sympathy when she saw the awkward angle of his body.

The guard got to his feet and moved after Jason who seemed to be stunned because he was making no effort to get up off the ground. Catching the gleam of a knife in the guard's hand she didn't hesitate. Dropping the gun she ran forward, launching herself at the unsuspecting man. She crashed into him hard and they both fell heavily to the ground.

Aware of the knife in the man's hands yet desperate to stop him from hurting Jason, Elizabeth fought as best she could, but she was handicapped both by the ties on her wrists and by her weakened condition. In spite of her valiant effort the fight was doomed from the very beginning. She tried to keep him pinned by grinding his face into the ground, she could hear his muffled curses and ground harder. The guard reared back violently and bucked her off sending her flying backwards through the air. She barely had time to scream when her body connected with the ground, her head with a rock and darkness claimed her.

****

~Woods~

Jess prided herself on her physical fitness, her stamina, but even she was ready to scream when Hawk finally called a halt to their mad dash. Bending over she rested her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Her consolation came with the knowledge that Hawk was breathing just as hard as she was.

"How did you know?" Jess finally gasped out.

How could he explain it to her? His worldly boss didn't really believe in evil and every time he started talking about the mysticism his Grand Mere had believed in her response had been to change the topic. She hadn't been raised on the Bayou she didn't know there were things that existed in the world that could never be explained away and evil was one of those things.

"Hawk?"

"He was downwind I caught a whiff," he offered a line from a movie he'd once seen and saw her expression turn doubtful.

"I'm amazed you could smell anything given the lovely aroma you're emanating."

"Your not so fresh yourself boss," he snapped.

Before she could respond their attention was caught by a flash in the darkened sky above them. "We better find someplace to hold up for the night. Things are going to get wet around here."

Hawk studied the sky for a minute then shifted his attention to her, catching her expression he couldn't resist a remark. "I'm ready for a wet T-shirt contest, how about you?"

"Juvenile," she hissed and began moving.

Letting out a long wolf-whistle Hawk trailed her. "I have to admit you have me beat when it comes to the T-shirt contest. But I don't mind."

****

~Trail~

Jason crashed hard into the guard. The sight of an unmoving Elizabeth on the ground made him snap. The abuse he unloaded on the guard was brutal, punch after punch until the guard stopped moving and still he swung. When he was convinced the man wasn't going to move anytime soon, he left the guard and crawled to Elizabeth's side.

"Elizabeth?" His voice was soft and his hand shook when he reached out to touch her face. Brushing back her hair his eyes narrowed at the faint trickle of blood coming from beneath her hairline at the corner of her head. She'd been hurt again, and once again he hadn't been able to stop it. Angry all over again he wanted to pound on the guard but knew he had to get her out of there.

Moving quickly he retrieved the man's gun and radio. Next he carefully removed the binds from Elizabeth's wrists and took great pleasure in tying the guard up with the rope as tightly as possible. Finally he checked the guard's pockets for anything else that could come in handy, and discovered a lighter and a package of crackers. Pulling the backpack free he tucked them inside it and put it back on before heading back for Elizabeth and picking her up as gently as he could. Gentle or not her head still lolled backwards over his arm, infuriating him, he turned back to the guard and kicked him several times, moving him from the trail into the brush.

He began walking away only to come to a stop after a few steps. The guard would be discovered eventually and when he was they would try to track who had beaten him. Realizing that, he paused and awkwardly pulled a small bushy branch from a tree and began brushing at his prints, obliterating them. Backing carefully from the path he made sure he left no trace of Elizabeth and his passage.

****

~New York City~

Sonny poured a liberal dose of scotch in his glass and studied the night skyline. How was he supposed to tell Jason that Elizabeth was dead? How was he supposed to tell his best friend that he had let him down and a woman he cared for had paid the price?

He wasn't blind to Jason's feelings for Elizabeth, he even believed he'd picked up on her feelings for him. All Jason had ever asked of him was to keep his family safe and help them if they asked for his help. He'd already let Emily down and she'd been hurt because of it. Jason had managed to forgive him for that, but forgiveness wouldn't happen this time. Although Jason hadn't said the words the last time he'd left, Sonny knew that Elizabeth was as important as Emily to Jason, in a different way.

Now he was faced with having to tell Jason that she was dead. Logically he knew that it wasn't his fault. The bounty had been on Jason and Elizabeth had followed in an attempt to help him. He couldn't control what had happened. But the fact that Elizabeth had been in his care at the time of her death meant that it _was_ his fault.

Draining his glass in one long gulp he deliberately set his glass down. Almost immediately he turned the glass over barring the path of more dark amber liquid. He couldn't afford to bury the pain in alcohol, he couldn't afford to crawl into the darkness in his mind. He still had so much left to do, he needed to be able to move to do it. Things like telling Nikolas that Elizabeth was dead.

****

~Plane~

"We'll take you back to the island and you can take a plane back to Port Charles," Nikolas informed her when her tears finally stopped. "Max turn the plane around."

Sitting back against the seat Emily shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Emily this could be dangerous," Nikolas hesitated not wanting to tell her about his father, a concept he could barely grasp himself. "You need to leave."

"Either my brother or my best friend is dead," she pointed out. "I'm not leaving until I know who. After I find out I'm going to need to help the survivor deal with the knowledge that the other is dead."

"You've barely recovered from your injury. You'll just slow us down," he pointed out viciously. "Max, turn the plane around."

"Don't do it Max," Emily warned him. "I'm staying with you until I know what happened."

"Turn the plane around," ignoring her he ordered the Mountain as sharply as he could.

"I'll just follow you," Emily warned them both. "You better keep me with you Max."

"Max," Nikolas all but yelled when he realized the Mountain had yet to turn the plane. "Turn the plane now."

"Don't do it Max," Emily warned.

"I couldn't if I wanted to." Max finally interrupted their argument. "We have a problem."

"What sort of a problem?" Nikolas demanded then got his answer when the engine sputtered once, twice, then cut off completely.

****

~Trail~

"What's wrong?" Manny asked when Francis came to an abrupt halt.

"The tracks," Francis murmured, using the flashlight he'd brought with him he began searching the ground.

"What about them?" Manny took a step away and cautiously touched his ribs trying to figure out if any were broken.

"The tracks end."

Surprised Manny took a step in his direction then went flying as he tripped over something. "What the hell?"

The light turned in his direction and they both took in the beaten, bloody, unconscious man. Scrambling to his knees he checked for a pulse. "It's weak but he's still alive. It looks like he ran into a truck."

"You ever been around Jason when he lost his temper?" Francis wanted to know.

"I can't say I have," Manny admitted.

"It's ugly." Francis scanned the ground trying to find the direction Jason had went and was soon distracted by the sound of Manny's stomach growling.

"Sorry," Manny's sheepish expression came through the dark night. "It's been awhile since lunch. "You find his trail?"

"Its to dark to find anything." Francis finally admitted. "We better find a safe place to hold up for the night. We can get a fresh start in the morning. We need to find someplace high," he muttered under his breath hoping Manny didn't hear him.

"High?" Manny latched onto that one word. "Why high?"

Francis didn't want to answer, he _really_ didn't want to answer Manny but knew he had to. "The woods come alive at night."

"Alive?" Manny was puzzled until a beautiful idea came to him. "Do you mean alive with animals?"

Francis didn't even bother to stop his groan.

"Cool!" Manny took the groan as a sign of assent. "What kind of animals?"

Francis turned his light on his watch he had the time to kick Manny's ass now, he wasn't trying to keep a schedule any longer, nothing was holding him back.

"Are there any cats here?" An oblivious Manny wanted to know. "Or maybe bears."

****

~Unique~

Opening the door slightly she made sure the hallway was empty before leaving the copy room and heading for the office at the end of the hall. The file clutched in her hand was the original the copy hiding in the bag on her shoulder. All she had to do now was return the original before anyone knew it was gone.

Reaching the door she knocked softly and waited a few seconds before opening the door. Moving quickly she headed for the file cabinet and replaced the file. Repeating her earlier procedure she carefully checked the hall before exiting the office. She'd only taken a few steps away from the door when Meg appeared at the end of the hall.

"Were you looking for me?" Meg asked.

"I just wanted to know if you'd decided on how to deal with Sonny Corinthos."

"I told you that's up to the boss."

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow." With that she turned and headed for the lobby unaware that Meg was watching her every step.

****

~Cave~

Jason found the cave quite by accident. Night had fallen on them quickly making it difficult for him to see where he was going. He was being doubly cautious because Elizabeth was still unconscious in his arms, yet he was determined to put as much distance between them and the beaten guard as he could. Tiring sooner than he liked to admit he had leaned against what he thought was a boulder covered by vines. When he pitched forward collapsing to his knees he realized the vines had been a fake front shielding the entrance to a cave.

Setting Elizabeth down carefully he reached for the lighter and clicked it on. The lighter didn't illuminate much of the cave but what he saw seemed to be dry. The sky had been rumbling ominously and he knew the storm was about to break. Moving cautiously he headed deeper in the cave to see if it was empty. He'd traveled about 20 yards before giving up, the cave was too large for him to search with such a dim light. Letting the lighter go out he blew on his fingertips to cool them before turning back. 

The dim light coming from the entrance guided him without the need to use the lighter and for that he was grateful. He paused beside Elizabeth long enough to settle her more comfortably and reassure himself by checking her pulse again. His sigh was one of relief when he felt the steady beat of her heart. Getting to his feet he headed outside. If they were going to stay in the cave they would need to shield it better.

Carefully he rearranged the vines until they totally hid the entrance to the cave. He hoped that would keep out the casual observer. The rain had just begun to fall when he made his way carefully back through the vines to Elizabeth. There was still a faint light coming through the vines but that light didn't go far. The darkness appeared to loom up directly behind where Elizabeth lay.

Settling himself against the wall near the entrance he pulled the Bowie knife from his boot and laid it next to his hip within easy reach. Next he pulled the canteen from his backpack and took a brief sip. Finally his focus turned to Elizabeth. Moving her carefully, cautiously, he settled her head on his lap. He had just begun to dab the cut on her forehead with the edge of his shirt when he was distracted by a noise.

To be more specific he was distracted by two noises. The one coming from outside the cave had him tensing, his hand picking up the knife. Someone was moving closer to the entrance of the cave. They were taking their time trying to mask the sounds of their approach and that concerned him. But the sound that really worried him came from his left, from somewhere back in the darkness of the cave. His eyes moved from left to right not knowing for certain which way held the most danger. But he finally knew one thing for certain. They weren't alone in the cave.

~*~*~*~*~*~

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